Wednesday 31 October 2012

Happy Halloween


Thank you to all my family and friends who offered their condolences, love and support for our loss.    It was a very sad time here and we are gathering ourselves to continue on this journey of life on the farm.   

It’s been a week’s hiatus from blogging…I needed a short break to grieve and recalibrate.   A quiet stillness has fallen over our home.   It’s being home alone and truly home alone for the first time at the new house.   Even when I was home alone (ie no other humans at home) I would always find myself in conversation with Corona.   I would ask her questions, develop her answers and in general just get her opinion.   I know I am not alone…lots of you reading this do this too!   It’s an emptiness that begs to be filled.   If not, I am a crazy lady talking to myself and developing my own answers!

The first days for me were the worst.   I was not able to take a few days off work as I had to travel on business first thing the next morning.   I work with 98% men, so when I arrived to catch our ride to Toronto early on Thursday morning I was met with jeering and innuendo until they realized why my eyes were red and puffier than marshmallows.   Once they knew; they were a sincere bunch of steel workers…they like to front a tough image but most of the guys I work with are really decent human beings once you wipe the grease off of them!  J  
The tears don’t seem to flow now like they did and I know as time passes the memories of her will be ones that make me smile rather than evoke the sadness of the loss.    We have yet to put all of her toys and possessions away…somehow I think it really makes it final.   Washing her things; washing away the last grasps of reality she has left behind for us.   Vacuuming the last tumble weeds of fluff that are floating through the house gathering in the odd corner; It’s so final.   So, now it’s time to recalibrate, refocus and be reminded that kindness in life extends to the final act of kindness that we choose as custodians to the pets we share our lives with.   As difficult as that decision has been to deal with on that day and every day since then, I would never stop sharing my life with special animals that enrich my everyday being because I fear this decision.

Moving forward we have not had idle hands on the farm … we both have needed distractions!
DH has been super busy with the indoor arena.   The footing is getting better and better.   Still some more leveling to get the final deep spots smoothed out and the thin spots filled in.  He worked away on it again last night so I can’t wait to give it another ride. 

Hurricane Sandy presented lots of rain and lots of MUD!!   We have a few leak issues throughout the farm buildings that we now know we will need to deal with in the priority sequence of getting to everything that needs fixing.   We knew the bank barn roof leaked…well it REALLY leaks when you get 50+mm of rain in a day!  

I was able to clean the future tack room area in the lower bank barn.   The cob webs were unbelievable and it took all day to vacuum the ceiling and walls.   Still need to scrape the floor in the area that was once the old owners chicken coop.   It’s a terrible smell now that all that poo has been saturated with water.   Ick!

The wind and rain also left my 2 girls inside for their first night since moving to the farm.   Unfortunately, we are using the existing old run in shelter that is attached to the building that will be the shop in the future.   This building opens to the north.   Sandy’s 100km/hr winds on Monday night were gale force blowing directly into the shelter.   The poor girls were wet with their heads down in the corner, tails to the wind!   They seemed quite happy to be in for their supper that night but by morning I was getting the hairy eyeball from Emma wondering what the heck was going on leaving her inside as she was no longer a show horse but a “ranch retiree”.    After 24 hours inside they were happy to be back out to the mud!
Here they are enjoying play time in the arena out of the wind and rain with blankets off for a really good roll!

Izzy found the monster pile of sand in the corner a great place to have some fun.

All this sand needs to be moved outside to the outdoor ring...It's at least 2 dump truck loads.  I have no idea how the old owners horses stayed sound riding in that footing!

Outdoor jobs have been on hold for the last 5+ days due to all the rain.   It works out Ok in reality since we have loads of inside jobs to do as well.   I spent some time in the last days cleaning the barn windows.    I don't think they have been cleaned since they were installed.   I took the stickers off that would have advertised the manufacturer.   What a difference in the natural light just having them clean! 
Here are some pictures of the transformation...
Start


With the Bars removed

Cleaned

Lastly, does anyone else out there reading this have trouble with rocks getting into their rubber boots?  I have been wearing the cheap farmer rubber boots.   You know, the black ones with red rubber soles that you can buy at TSC.   I swear that I walk 20m and I have a small sharp pebble in one boot or the other.   I promptly stop and dump it out.   I walk another 20m and have to repeat the process.   I have no holes as I have no leaks so these little buggers must be getting flicked in over the top.   Do I just have a strange gait that flicks rocks into my own boots or this a common annoying problem others have when they wear their rubbers?

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Corona : June 1999 - October 2012

It is with a heavy heart between tears that I write of the sadness that has fell upon HP Haven this evening.   We have lost our beloved dog Corona tonight.   I type this in hope that it will be healing therapy for the love of something greater then I.  

As we sit tonight in the silence of our home wondering how we move on when there are so many signs that she is still supposed to be here.   Everywhere you look there are painful memories, her dishes, her toys, her beds.   There are even dirty foot prints on the kitchen floor from when she came in late last night that I just don't want to wipe up because they are the last ones she will make in this home.    She has taken a little piece of our hearts with her to another place.   We are lonely now and in time it will pass and we will remember her in her glory of life.   We will remember the little piece of her heart she gave to us.   She gave it with no thought of any return kindness.   She gave it with abandon.   She gave it unconditionally.   She was a perfect dog right until the end.   Never a mean bone in her body just a pure golden heart.   She was one of a kind...special.

She told us that it was time.   As painfully difficult as it was to see her pass, we knew that another round of tests and palliative care at an animal hospital was not how we wanted her last days.  She would be alone in a kennel with strangers, strange dogs and strange sounds.   She would be frightened and alone.   We were with her as she transitioned over and we stayed with her and sobbed in each others arms.   Grief stricken and unsure what to say or do.   Knowing that things would be different when we walked out of there.   Death is always so painful for the living.

Her memory will live with us forever; as we try and find our inner compass to move on to the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year.   She will guide us through this time in our subconscious and help us be grateful for the time we had with her.   There were very few bad times so it will be easy to honour her life through the fun we had together.  The nightly walks to the creek that were on dog time...because they were her walks so she set the pace!   Doubling back was a common occurrence.   The fun swims at the lake on the hot dog days of summer (during the big black out in 2003).   When she would paddle around in her life jacket and then suddenly stop and just float for awhile because she was tired.   The endless squeaking of stuff toys to the point that the toy would look perfect (OK well maybe not perfect, more like matted and crusty from slobber) but no holes with a broken squeaker.   The Christmas she ate the lights off the tree and pooed sparkles!    The coffee table with bite marks on the leg.   The puffs of fur floating throughout the house.   I know that a year from now I will remember her by pulling a strand of her hair from an well worn sweater.   Those are the things that will remind us that we had such love from a creature with no voice.  

The world can be a cruel place...to offer us such love and take it away.   But I know that with this terrible sadness of tonight it is only because we have felt such pure love.  
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.   So tonight I will sob for the loss of a companion because this tight emptiness in my heart is because of the depth of the love we shared.   We wouldn't be fortunate enough to feel such loss if there had not been such love.

Safe Travels My Friend...Until we meet Again...I'll bring a ball.


Sunday 21 October 2012

Fabulous Clinic & Shelter Nears Completion

What a week at HP Haven!

First things first I have to share about the clinic this week with Josh Nichol.   What a horseman!   I feel so empowered and humbled by all that I have learned.   Izzy was a superstar and I am so proud of her.    She's growing up and becoming such a reliable partner.   I am so pleased with my decision to give her this season off of competition and let her grow up and also go back and revisit some basic work that I had not done well enough the first time.   My focus this summer has been on the relationship I have with her and not so much on the technique and the "job".    It's been a very enjoyable summer and the time off for her during the move was certainly of no consequence.    
Josh drove home the main points of riding with feel and not making the horse always  wrong by picking at her with no, no, no through my reins.   Rather let the horse be a bit wrong and then just guide her into a better correctness.   The pieces to the progression are falling into place.   This was my third clinic with Josh and I can see his methodology much clearer now and this clinic confirmed for me that his system and teaching style resonates within me to my core.    He keeps the horse first; at no expense will he not be the better deal the horse is looking for in leadership.   I have more homework for the winter until Josh makes his next trip back to Ontario in 2013.   I can tell it's going to be a really fun and enlightening winter.

After my lesson on Saturday I could feel how Izzy was improving and I could see from her sweat patterns after a rather demanding lesson that she worked in a balanced, calm, uphill posture.   She was completely dry under her saddle and she was wet in the flanks, stifles stomach and a bit at the base of her neck.   It's up to me to not get greedy with my hands and to keep true to the clarity of my request by asking with my body and energy, while making sure I can soften and engage Izzy without creating tension or asking before I took the time needed to melt the tension before the request.  
Here is a pic of Izzy and I with Josh.   My all time favourite cowboy!  :-)

Here is a pic of our clinic group.   Great group and so nice to spend time with like minded people all trying to better themselves in the same way.



Corona Update…
Corona is doing better.   She is now on 8 different medications but she at least appears to be in better spirits and somewhat perkier than she has been in at least a week.   She is still not eating tho which is a huge concern.  We did get some appetite stimulant drugs and they work beautifully…well at least they worked for one meal.   We do not want to give her the drugs every meal so we struggled with finding something she would eat the next meal.   I even slow cooked a roast beef over night one night this week to try and entice her with that.   She will eat some of it but becomes easily disinterested after a few bites.   A friend runs a raw food business for dogs and she recommend tripe as she has a very old Golden as well that often will not eat.   She gave me a few cans to try and Sat night she gobbled that right down.   Jana did warn me that the stuff stinks…holy hell; it reeks!   BUT if the dog will eat it I will suffer through the stench. So far 1 can is gone…hoping that this won't be like all the other food were she eats it on the first day then is totally turned off of that food a day later.    
Lets just face facts here…she 13.5 years old.  We know she is closing in on the end of her years with us.  Reality of this situation is that DH and I are just not ready to let her go yet.   Our home will be so quiet without the click of toe nails on the hard wood and the snoring beside the bed.   

Shelter Update…
We have the roof on and the kick boards installed!   It looks great and I am really happy with the size.   Just have to add the manger for hay at the back wall and also some metal edging to prevent chewing and it will be considered complete!   <Insert me doing a Happy Dance here!> 


Emma and Izzy thought it was pretty nice too.   I turned them out in pasture #2 for the first time late this afternoon.   Izzy tore around like a crazy horse for at least 10 minutes.   Emma kinda rotated on the spot to keep her in view but didn't get too worked up.   She thought eating the long grass in there was a better plan!   


Clean up of the "shop" has started.   I cleaned the 6 stalls that are in the building that will be converted to DH's shop.  So I think I am now able to let go of the angst I have towards the old owners for the stall filth.   40+ wheelbarrow loads out of 6 stalls.   They were terrible and the mold was incredible.   It's over now tho and I am moving on.   I even took the divider walls down between 3 of the stalls and we recycled the wood into the kick boards of the shelter.   Look at what I found behind the wall!!


DH and I also got the sand spread back out into the indoor.   We have decided that the addition process will be slow and a little bit at a time.   I don't want to have to take more out again so I would rather error on the conservative side as we add sand back in.   We may have enough sand coming out of the indoor to do a good portion of the sand layer needed in the outdoor.   If not it won't be much to top it up in spring.

Since we have had a bunch of rain lately and the days are getting shorter I have been trying to get a few things organized inside the house.   I started my studio unpacking!!   I have missed the creativity that the time in there provides.   I know that once the snow flies I will again be spending more time in there.
AND since it rained you know what happens around HP Haven after rain...more weeding!
Here is the entrance to the outdoor and the back of the arena.
BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER



Also this week the HVAC guys were here to fix all the errors in the duct work.   The house only has half of one cold air return duct from the 2nd floor.   So the furnace is starved for air and over heats then shuts off.  Good idea to get that fixed before winter hits!  They have mapped out everything that needs to be fixed and they will be returning this week to do the fix.   

Lots of drop ins this week and weekend as well.   Thank you friends and family for stopping in and checking up on us.   It's been wonderful seeing everyone and showing everyone around.   Thank you Dad for bringing us 2 huge boxes of wood for the winter!   We won't have time to gather and dry much wood for this season so it will be nice to have this wood for the fireplace when it's -20C!

Monday 15 October 2012

Trail Cam Update

Tonight we went back to have a looky-loo at the trail cam pictures.   Well low and behold we found a very photogenic bunch of wild turkeys!   Only a week late for Thanksgiving but I guess they were hiding out last weekend, "just in case"!



We also caught a lovely buck on the camera, or maybe this is 2 different bucks??


AND someone was out back with their dog???


Sunday 14 October 2012

Shelter Progress and Doggy Update

Saturday morning we had a heavy first frost.   Good thing the girls had their blankets on for the first night too!  It was -3C when I did morning feed.


Here they are waiting for morning feed.


This is the only existing flower garden on the property...the center of the circle turn around in the back drive.   I think the petunia's may have seen their last sunrise.

This weekend was set aside for more work on the shelter.  This is how we started off after Chris worked on the roof rafters on Friday.

This is the first attempt at building a shelter.   We are not using a set of plans for the construction.   Basically, I know what I want it to look like and I know how I want it to function.   DH is the construction side of the process.   He puts my thoughts into real life structure.   So once this one is completed the other 5 will be easier to build as we will have all the kinks worked out on this one!
Here is what we ended the weekend like.
It was too windy to do the roof today and we worked through the rain on Saturday to get the roof rafters complete and the back wall up.   I got the job of cutting the lumber as he nailed it all into position.   I could see he was afraid to let me use his power tools.   I was't sure if it was because the pink power combo with power tools or if he was actually afraid I was going to sever a finger in the radial cross cut saw!   I only cut one board wrong all weekend...so I think that's pretty good and we were able to salvage it and use it anyway.   By the end of the weekend...we got the walls all up and now we can work on the roof, the kick boards and the manger.

Corona Update...
Corona went to the vet on Saturday morning...she is sick.   The vet is not sure what's wrong with her.   She had blood work done and we will know the results on Monday.   She came home on Saturday and was perked up somewhat.   I thought she was turning the corner, however my hope was false as Sunday was not a great day.   As of right now she doesn't want to eat.   We have tried 4 different types of food and food combos now.   The last one is the only one she is even remotely interested in; ground beef and rice.   If it smells like dog food she just turns her nose up at it.   This is VERY strange because Corona is the dog that will eat anything!!

Here's Corona on Sunday out for a few hours of fresh air with her Daddy.
   

Vermin Update...
I think I may be ahead of them now!!  Yeah Me!  I checked all the bait boxes and they all had bait still in them.  I will maintain bait in the boxes now and hope that I don't have a big influx of rodents when spring mating season hits!  :-)

Splendid Maple Update...
The maple out front his trying to hold onto her leaves.   Even with the rain and gale force winds we had this weekend she still adds a wonderful splash of colour to the front yard.


Miss Kitty has been spending alot more time in the house these days as well.   That means we don't have the early morning serenade at the bedroom window.  <Insert Happy Dance here!>  She has decided that sleeping on our bed morning, noon and night is a perfect place.  She does however like to have a break from napping now and again and look out the window in the kitchen.


Visitor Update...
We had a lovely drop in from a co-worker and his parents this weekend.  Rob and his mom and dad stopped in with apples for the horses!   Ursela and Gord golf at the course in Cayuga and they used to enjoy seeing the horses across the road when they were on the course, since the old house was across from the golf course.    Rob has a small plane and he has given us fly overs since we moved in...I have seen him once myself as he came down low and I waved from the clothes line.   I can't wait for him to take me up for my very own fly over!  :-)








Friday 12 October 2012

Sick Hooch this Week

Here at HP Haven we have been dealing with a sick doggie.   Tuesday night Corona come down with "something".   She has been off her food for at least 2 weeks now.   This has been very worrisome for me as this is a dog that eats ANYTHING!   And I really mean ANYTHING!   Meat, veggies, horse poop if she can get away with it, Christmas lights when she was little (She pooed sparkles!), whatever hits the floor you have to be fast to get it before she does!   She has started to turn her nose up at pretty much everything.   I had to hand feed her and DH has even had to coheres her to eat.   Very strange for her.

Tuesday night she had us up 5 times throughout the night.  Pretty much every 1.5-2 hours she was up and wanted outside.   DH pulled the first shift and let her out the first 3 times and then I did second shift and let her out the last 2 times.   The final time I just got up and got ready for work and went in early...no sense trying to go back to sleep for 45 minutes!

Made the call to the vet, figured it was another urinary tact infection.   She's had several over the years.  Got home on Wed night to diarrhea throughout the main floor of the house!!   I nearly threw up with the smell when I opened the door!   First order of business (no pun intended) was to get her outside to let her go out there!   Next was to get the windows open so I could stop the gag reflex.  Then the clean up started.   All the throw rugs went straight to the washer.   Found the pail, cleaning rags and ammonia.   As you all know Hoochie is a hairy assed varmint ...and this was not a good time for that!   So imagine the mess on those snow white pants and plumy long tail!    It was everywhere!  AND I mean everywhere!   If she laid down it was there.   If she turned around and her butt brushed the wall it was there.   Two hours later I had the house cleaned and smelling better.
I had a very embarrassed and sick doggie that ended up in her bed with the heating pad for the rest of the night.   She was exhausted, hungry but afraid to eat and not exactly smelling her best!

Thursday morning was the dreaded pee sample collection for the vet to test to validate the urinary tact infection.   I taped the container to the broom handle and followed her out the door at 5:45am to do the deed.   She's a low to the ground type when she pees so it's not an easy collection process.   So she doesn't really like the container being stuffed under her as she's going!   So let me paint the picture for you...me with my rubber boots, flash light and the pee container taped to a broom handle, following the dog around the yard until she find the "perfect" spot!  She squats down to do her business.   I try and cram the container on a stick under her butt.  She's too low to fit the container under and there is so much hair under there I have no idea if she is going other than the fact that she is in the right position to be going!   I end up having to use the toe of my boot to actually push it under...whacking her in the butt in the process and she looks back at me with that look as if to say, "Excuse me...but can't you see I am peeing!"

Two days and three types of antibiotics later and she is pretty much back to herself.  Thankfully, she  had no accidents when I got home from work on Thursday.   As of tonight, she's eating again and has interested in when we eat...so I am hopeful that the drugs are working their magic clearing up whatever bug she has.

I think DH was going to have a nervous breakdown with worry.   Funny tho how he wasn't too keen on dawning the rubber gloves and cleaning her tail end up after her bathroom trips outside on Wednesday night!  

Vet check up tomorrow to make sure she is fine...which I am sure will result in nothing to report other than, yes, she has a urinary tact infection and yes, she is old!   O well...it's peace of mind...and since she isn't going to cost us for University, I guess we can afford a vet check up even after the several hundred in drugs!

Tuesday 9 October 2012

~Warning!~ Mushy Blog Post


As the title suggests…you get an advanced warning that this is a mushy blog post today.   So if you are Ok with mushy, read on.   If not, check back later this week for the next post!
Seven years ago today, I married the most wonderful man I have ever met.

If anyone would have told me 10 years ago that I would be where I am today; in this place on earth; in this personal space; in this contentment in my heart I surely would have laughed in their face!   Ten years ago I was newly divorced after a very angry and messy breakup from a record short marriage that I knew should never have happened in the first place.    (Why is it we know these things in our guts but we don’t listen?)   It was a train heading off the rails before it got out of the station but for some reason I just felt like I had no power to get off until it was a total train wreck.           

Fast forward a year, my optimism had returned and I was feeling so free and alive.   The weight of those unhappy times had been left behind like lost baggage from the wreck.   I had a new lease on life.   I took myself far less seriously.   I appreciated what I had going for me and I undertook a mind set of gratitude.   I realized how much letting go of everything gave me so much more.   Thankfully that train had a wreck all those years ago because it gave me the chance to change and be a better version of me.

I met a shy bachelor steel worker that was kind, genuine and a perfect gentleman.  He was the perfect compliment for my personality and my lifestyle.   Always the good cop for my bad cop.  The relaxation to my go, go, go energy. J We made an instant connection on the deepest level.   We understand each other with no words and words come easy when they need to.    I knew he was who I was supposed to end up with in this big plan our maker in our world has set out for me.   I know I am not the only one to feel this sense of instant connection with someone or some animal in your life.   It’s a sense of “right-ness” without anyone ever having to know why it’s right.   It was like we had known each other in another life and our spirits had found each other again in this life.  

Fast forward to 2005, we married on Thanksgiving.   We had so much to be thankful for and we continue to be blessed with so much love and happiness.    Here we are on our wedding day!



Fast forward to 2012, we have ventured into a new chapter together becoming farmers.   I couldn’t image doing this with anyone else.   The support of my hobbies, my horses and even my unflattering faults…he’s my rock, my best friend, my shoulder to cry on and my goofy nut that makes me laugh until I snort and cry.   He’s all the things I am not…patient, relaxed, care free.   He’s taught me so much about living life to the fullest and being honestly me in all situations.    He’s made it simple for me to create a habit of being grateful and happy through daily life and the simple routine.    He’s made it obvious that the little stolen moments are what we remember and what really count.   They are what shape us into the people we are and the people we want to become.   I am a better version of me because he’s part of who I am.
Here we are now…the new farmers!


He made falling in love with him easy and living this live has been even easier.    That’s how I know we were meant to be together…he makes being in love with him so easy.   Happy Anniversary Honey.   I love you.

Monday 8 October 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was fantastic on the farm.  I have so much to be thankful for again this year.   My life is truly full of blessings and I know how fortunate I am to have so many wonderful friends and family members.

My parents stayed the weekend and once again worked their tails off helping us get things into shape.

My mom spent her weekend washing the mudroom and sunroom from top to bottom.   That took almost all day on Saturday.   I couldn't believe the transformation in the mudroom just by making it clean.   Still has chipped paint and damage on the walls but what a difference just cleaning that room makes.   Then she tackled painting the ceils.   I REALLY hate painting ceilings so when she was willing to do it, I was more than thankful!   Not only did she get both ceilings painted on Sunday but she also pulled off a perfect turkey and ham Thanksgiving dinner with zero help from anyone.   We got the call out the kitchen window at 4:50 that dinner was at 5pm.  I love my mom!   :-)

My dad was busy with removing all the posts from the back pastures.   They have been very difficult to get out and he finished up the job and also had a massive fire burning all the broken posts and huge pile of old lumber that was stacked in the field.   The old owners rather than clean up the old lumber and broken building that was out in the far pasture they just erected the fencing around it.   Who does that?   
My dad also helped me take out all the old overgrown shrubs from around the house.   I was sad to see the shrubs go because the house looks naked and not what I am used to but they were just too big and too close to the house.   I am rather excited about the thought of starting a completely new flowerbed and gardens all around the house tho.   I love to garden (I know, too many hobbies!) so it will be fun to start with a fresh pallet in the spring and make these my own.   All my friends with perennial beds…keep me in mind this coming spring when you are splitting your plants…I will need lots!!

I tore out the vegetable garden that was out the front door and the tomatoes that were around the side of the house.   Little weird if you ask me having your veggies right out the front door, so it was a definite must go!   
Here are the photos of the house before we started.


Here's what it looks like now.   It seems a bit naked without all the tress but once the new plantings go in it will have a totally new look.   We also need to redo the grading along the foundation since the veggie patch out front was added by ripping the boards out of a deck and then adding dirt into the frame.  Who does that?



Here is Papa Bear on the tractor working his magic.

I also did more weeding.   Why is it that weeds grow 10 times faster than grass and pasture?   I finished off around the round pen and got the south side of the arena finished up.  I forgot to take a second picture of the arena after the piles of weeds were picked up and taken to the weed recycling area that we started.   (I will try and remember that for another time).

BEFORE


AFTER



Chris worked away on the run in shelter in pasture #2.  It was fraught with mishap for the poor guy on Saturday.   He wanted to use the air nailer to help speed up the process and save his arm.   He ran all of his airline and realized that it was too short to make it.   So he dug out the generator and hauled that to the shelter.   He hooked everything up to find out that his portable compressor for the nailer took too high an amperage at start up and he blew the fuse in the generator!   So off to the hardware store to replace the fuse…and bought additional air line!    By late afternoon he was set up and able to get started.
By Sunday this was there progress.  All the rafters are up and the support structure is complete.   We have all the metal for the roof and the boards for the outside, so it shouldn't be long now until the it's ready for horses!


I also spent some time with my horses this weekend.   Izzy had a nap on Saturday morning, so I went out to visit.

Then she had a good roll!   Emma as you can see found all this to be rather boring!

Then Chris took some pictures of my ride today.   One along the driveway since I trimmed all the trees this morning.

...and another out front.


The maple out front was in perfect colour for Thanksgiving.   This is Sunday morning…what a fantastic tree!   I am so glad we have this tree in the front…it brings me a lot of joy seeing its splendour.  

A special thanks to Sharon and Rob for bringing Julie over for a short visit.  It was so nice to see you guys and Julie...it was The Royal last year that I last seen her.   Where does the time go! 
Our old neighbours Rob and Tracy popped in today.   We really miss them and it was great to see them.   They need to come again when they can stay longer!

AND the final hurrah for this post is the Redneck window that my dad cut for us in our terrible black fence along the back of the house!   (He cut it with my new chainsaw, incase anyone was wondering!)  We had no view out the back of the house because of this fence.   We have no need for a privacy fence in our back yard, so we made it a bit less private!
BEFORE

AFTER

Now we have a view to the barn and the pastures from the mudroom...redneck perfect!  :-)