New Baby

With Kyle leaving tomorrow...

we needed a new "baby" in the house.

Introducing...

BANDIT

We had to put Rod's greyhound 

down recently.

So he has been without a dog.

(Kyle is leaving his 2 with us

so we are not dog-less...)

There is a little Australian Cattle Dog

aka Blue Heeler at the place where

we get our horse/cattle feed.

Her name is Dixie and Rod

has threatened / offered to take

her home for a couple of years.

And then a few weeks ago he was at

our local Tractor Supply and met a woman

who had a pretty little Blue Heeler with her.

He (being the least shy person I know)

started a conversation and one thing led

to another and Sunday after church

we made the 2 hour drive to the center

of the state to her breeder

and picked out this little sweetie.

She enjoyed riding in the truck.

Stopped at a park for a potty break.

(Hates the leash and collar though)

And is well on her way to being spoiled.

She loves everybody.

And especially loves FEET.

They are fun to chew on.

With her little piranha teeth.

Welcome to the herd "Shorty"!

(Her name is Bandit, but she gets

called all sorts of things... 

eventually something will stick...)

The Bisonator

Pooh Bear

Bisonator

Big Man

These are just some of the names

of Kyle's old yellow lab

Bison.

He's old.

And that's not bad.

He quit chewing the skin off golf balls.

And sneaking out under the fence

every 16 seconds.

(Which is why Kyle built him 

his very own yard)

(which he now has to share with Kyle's

new(er) dog, Shadow.)

He likes to get out at the end of the

day and make a quick lap of the

property.

Check to make sure everything

is right in his world.

And then he heads into the garage

and goes back to sleep in his crate.

The equivalent of a rocker on a porch

I guess.

New Digs - In the Raw

So Kyle finally got some photos of his new place.

It's teeny tiny.

Used to be a motel.

Lots of windows and lots of light.

And in the summer,

lots of green.

Notice there is a big step up into the front door.

Which might make moving his big

tool chest a bit of a challenge.

But it IS nice... (freshly painted, etc)

Looking in from the front door.

The door on the left is a closet.

The door on the right is his bathroom.

He has a nice little two burner stove

with a cabinet and fridge

underneath.

There is a good bit of room on both sides,

so his immediate plans are to build

some shelves so he will have

counter space and some place to put

his stuff.

(He might even build some that go up and over

the top... like an upside down U)

He didn't send me the picture of his closet,

but it's just an empty space with a hanging

rod running across the top.

But the FANCY part of the room is

the BATHROOM!

Are you ready for this????

Yup.

PINK!

A LOT of pink!

We bought him some chocolate brown

bath towels and a brown

rug for the floor to try to tone it down

a little bit.  (He wanted grey,

but they didn't have enough...)

A nice shower curtain and brown towels

on the wall (and reflected in the mirror)

will help.  A LOT.

(speaking of which, I don't see

a towel rod... )

WAIT - is that one ABOVE HER HEAD

on the wall opposite the sink????

LOL

There may be some adjustments required.

He originally said he was going to

embrace the pink and go with a

white shower curtain with little pink

butterflies.  But I think he has reconsidered.

LOL

Anyhow.

He has a bed, a comfy chair,

a dresser and a big red tool chest.

That likely will fill the room.

I WISH I was going with him to help.

But he's doing this move on his own.

And he's a boy.

So...

He would likely be happy with

a bean bag chair and some cardboard boxes.

I'm excited for him!

Laughter is GOOD Medicine

Kyle needed some stuff.

So we went to Walmart.

And bought him some stuff.

One of the things we have always loved

to do is stand around and smell stuff.

Not weird stuff.

Like candles,

air fresheners,

that sort of thing.

We needed more liquid dish soap.

Who knew it came in 9,857 different flavors!

So...

true to form,

we were standing there smelling them.

Can't have your clean dishes

smelling like toilet bowl cleaner!

Anyhow.

He said something funny.

(He is always saying something funny)

And I was laughing.

And then I was laughing harder.

And he said... (and I quote)

"MOM!

Be quiet!

I can't smell this!"

And then I died.

I am going to MISS HIM!

New Roomie!

I spend a good part of my day

sitting in a little room

with no windows.

For somebody who loves nature

that's a challenge!

I tried growing a plant.

Hahahahahahahahaha

Yeah. 

That didn't work.

(Turns out plants need sunlight too.)

Oh yah, and water and stuff.

So...

Introducing...

BOB

He is hanging on my wall

in an acrylic bubble.

Lots of my co-workers stop

by each day to say 

Hi Bob!

He was a little shy

and spent a lot of time hiding

behind the ivy around

the outside of the bowl.

But he's coming out of his shell.

He's not sunshine.

But he is a step in the right direction.

Kyle's Latest Project

Naturally, because Kyle has decided to move

everybody and his brother's uncle 

has come up with project that

must be done

before he can leave.

Case in point.

Our Home Teacher and his wife have

two adorable little girls.

They come out to our farm faithfully

each month to feed / pet the horses

and the cows

and the chickens

and the bunnies

and also leave a thoughtful message.

They are expecting another baby

in the next couple of months.

(A boy)

(finding out early is CHEATING!)

(lol)

Anyhow.

They decided they needed bunk beds

for the little girls.

Looked at the local furniture stores

and decided that the furniture commercially

available these days is pretty poor quality.

So they decided they needed a custom 

built set of bunk beds.

Being Millenials,

they immediately scoured the internet

looking for exactly 

The One.

And they found it.

And Kyle is building it.

And discovering that the internet sometimes lies.

Which has necessitated an extra trip to the

lumber store.

But it's looking pretty good!

Notice the built in ladder right there next to the clamp

It's hard to get a good picture since it's

in the garage / dog / pool room.

Not a bunch of extra space.

This is end of day 1.

They want it painted white.

Kyle is not a big fan of painting.

Luckily, when Rod's brother Scott moved

down south, they didn't have room for

all the tools, etc he has accumulated

over the years.

Among the things he left with us 

is a power painter / sprayer / thingie.

So there IS hope.

I think they will like it.

Spring / Summer

We had spring for a minute there.

It was lovely on Saturday and Sunday.

A "cold front" came through

bringing a nice breeze from the north.

VERY low humidity.

As evidenced by my chapped lips

and static-filled hair.

(ugh)

But also temperatures in the 70's.

The guys enjoyed it.

(I was cold)

But summer is back now.

It's in the 80's today.

The humidity is a little better.

My lips are still a little dry

and my hair was a little wacky this morning

but I just came in from a break

sitting in my truck

and it felt pretty wonderful.

Kyle picked me a handful of posies

for Mothers Day.

We don't really "do" ____ Day.

(Mother, Father, whatever...)

We kind of do birthdays.

This year Kyle will be gone by his birthday.

I can't believe he is going to be 25!

Neither can he!

LOL

I might not have anything to do this evening.

I'm not sure.

I'll probably wash eggs.

If I can find some cartons to put them in.

I ordered some from Amazon,

but they are coming on a slow boat from China.

(Won't be here until NEXT week!)

Good grief.

Obviously NOT Prime eligible.

I'm so spoiled.

Tomorrow I have a quick checkup at the doctor

at 3:00 and then I'll run home to make

dinner since we are having the Elders over.

I'm thinking BBQd ribs in the pressure cooker.

Or pizza.

Whichever. 

LOL

Ok, enough rambling.

Just wanted "everyone" to know I'm still live.