how I relax

After all is done and it is dark at about 11 pm, I go out to the pasture and crawl into the old claw foot tub we put feed in and look at the stars and have a cigarette.

oh my ....hello husband....

Well now I have the treat of the month, Bruno pulled in on Wednesday night...his hinny dragging....He is to rest for a few days....So yesterday we rested ( I feeling guilty for such luxury's ) I did sit on the back deck assembling the mail box number thingy that reflects at night....me being a safety freak wanting to make sure the fire department could find us in our dark little road if ever the need...Not like they would miss a house on fire ,as there are only three other houses even visible from our place...

Anyway the girls are gone...farm pixie put herself in a pickle that even I could not save her from...she has a few things to learn before returning here....Ranch Giggler will be coming back this next week, to finish her time and then will be paid for her labor after it.

Bruno was impressed by what got done around here including the new wood fence that I put off for a year...we had step in fences that did little but worked as a visual for awhile. We will plant vines at each post soon. I am hoping for railroad ties to put in the winter veggies but at this rate who knows if that will really happen. Bruno intends on finishing the stairs on the deck ( 3 sets ) as well as the over head archway....My wish is for him to just veg.....I'm sending him off to get a massage at 9 am today....anyway we are trying our level best not to work ourselves into the ground but we are both feeling as if we already have.

the list of things to do here in the summer seems to grow by the day. and I wonder if I will ever have less then ten things on the darn thing, the list as it is looks like this
go to dump
pick out of feild 100 bales of feed
load into barn those 100 bales
weed flower beds
return dead plants to Lowes and replant new ones
gut upstairs bathroom
tile bathroom
remove all the plant and hummingbird hangers ( prep for paint)
clean all the water spouts and filters
add Y's to two spigots
take kittens to vet for 3rd shots and worming
have Alpacas sheared
trim horses hooves
bath bunnies
check and repair hot wire in four locations
kill blackberries bushes that threaten to take over corner of property
clean out barn
have barn sale
sell old 4runner & Rodeo
garage door install
latch for gate
make cushion covers (4)
put ties and fill winter garden
build greenhouse
plant 11 trees were the dead one are removed
paint house
finish down stairs
remove overhead lines and relocate in the ground
stain fence
stain deck again
trim the rest of trees
remove old dog run fence (chain link) and put in wood one with 6 foot gate so I can mow in there
dig trench to garden shed for power.
trim fruit trees
check the irrigation lines (all 2000 feet of it )
find the leak that keeps filling up window well

Did I mention I need to get this all done by September 1st? This does not include the daily ranch chores...So as you can see I have plenty too keep me going
I have not seen or heard the news in some three weeks now....T

hope you are all well and that the new places and babies everyone has are all perfect.

And somehow I have.....

Not choked the life out of those girls....Maybe because they are at Liz's and my arms will not reach that far. Or that I am so tired I have no will to do so. Whatever the reason I do get why mom's & dad's get tired , frustrated and give in and give up battling their kids. After getting the girls to Camano Island, I returned to do some things like stain the two dutch doors as well as pick up the house a bit. I worked outside till dark. Found cloths on the ground from the laundry line and just could not understand why two wide eyed able bodies could walk over and past them several times...Mysteries of the teenage universe? I then put up several bath towels, counting how many on the stand. I was short two and decided to "locate " them....up till today I had not entered their room....Things I found .....4 pairs of my socks dirty on floor a pile of clothing with the two wet missing towels...grrrrr. The thing I do not understand is why all the clothing was not washed when we went to the laundry the other day and why all the towels in the house decided to live so far away from the bathroom (natural habitat for them) ....And on another note I have found myself saying things that I have heard other people say as well as the very words my mother would say flying outta my mouth like it was a natural statement for me..Dear God shoot me now!!!!I never thought for one second in the last 25 or so years I would ever hear myself say...." just what in the hell were you thinking", "Don't even think about asking me again about this" and "just how many times do I have to tell you?" I for one am sitting here in the peace of the morning...the sun not yet cresting the hill wondering why in the world would one torture themselves??? How do people stay sane and go to work without losing their minds? I found other things that relocated themselves like cream cheese salmon spread...I thought of putting it back in the fridge and just letting her ( farm pixie) eat it, get sick and let here live with the consequences of leaving food out all night...never mind the wasted money of it but how do they walk past things so often and never see it? Are they like kittens that do not have their eyes open for some time?you would have thought after the girls left candy out and the baby kittens ate and got sick from it the would have learned...as I made them clean the mass runny foul pooh up..both choking as the did...How fast does the young mind loss it's memory? is there such thing as juvenile altiemers? And then there is the blank look as they try to convince you that they have absolutely no clue what you are speaking of...or that you are speaking Latin to them...the best is when you have addressed an issue and they swear up and down it was not them...but all evidence points and proves that it was...they basically call you a liar and you flip and try to restrain yourself from exploding....

Note to my mother: Mom lets face it I was a trouble maker....I am so sorry that I drove you over the edge repeatedly...do you mind forgiving me after 30 years have past?

Note to all moms and dads: How do you people stay sane? Is there a trick out there that you have ? Drugs? WHAT IS IT!!!!

Now then we have no kids, I have no parenting skills what so ever....but I do have safety skills...but that will not help when these girls turn stupid on me , on purpose no lest just to drive me over the edge....I have a thought of going over there grabbing them , choking them and making them return to do the right thing...Why is it so hard to do it right to begin with? You would think that doing something four times wrong would drive one crazy when it is so easy to do it right the first time....grrrrr

The sun is up and I am going to go do several things like mow and finishing staining doors as well as take a shower and have a second cup of coffee...

HI THERE!!!

Well yesterday was pretty calm , well sorta...We worked several hours and then went and got a John Deere part and it took us several hours longer..then put it together... So I will now be able to spent the remainder of the day fertilizing one pasture. It is always so crazy here in the summer, which never lasts long enough to get the giant list of things done. Even with the help of some boot camp girls. If summer could last lets say 7 months I might have a chance. We got tons done so far. The girls leave for Auntie Liz's place today..She has so much work and all the other stuff like the masses of veggies that need to be attended too. As well as mini cart driving classes. And the list goes on...She too works at the frenzied pace we do here, just a little different. She said that it would feel like a break to the girls after hearing that we worked several days at high noon in the unbearable heat. But my policy here is there are just the daylight hours and rain and heat are not an excuse to quit...The two girls have worked several boys right under the table. They are getting stronger each day. Both can now move a 90# bale on their own and load it into the cart. Both can toss a 50# bag of feed in the rig and not complain one bit...Not that I would hear it..No snivelling, no crying and no whining..PERIOD! The don't. They did once and it cost them a full hours pay a piece.

My new truck was delivered yesterday and the fact that I did not get to even see her befor we bought her is pretty funny.The only bad thing is she is black..Not good on a ranch...Toyota Tundra...Anyway I've let the girls sleep long enough...love you all.

the reality of a two hour visit......

enjoying the sun going down and a little cooler farm pixie
the giggler looking for trouble
they work well together..twicw as hard but twice as fun....
a little rest and then off to gitter done...

we had to make up for the time we spent and ended up working well past 7pm last night. The visit and the junk food was a nice treat and the girls got to show off their hard work. We had loads of laundry and had to string another line to hang it all. Little ranch giggler made dinner while farm pixie finished feeding ..two little zombies will sleep in this morning. We did go get more sunscreen as well as farm hats to protect their heads as we all ended up with sunburns down the center of our heads....a fashion show ensued ( something I would not encourage normally) and I got them to let me photograph them for a moment...