A Few Home Details

I always have to fill in the details of what went on when we were home. This morning when I blogged I hadn't uploaded my pictures yet, so I put this off till now. But Malcolm wanted to see the pictures I took of his tractor, so I uploaded them a bit ago, and now as we roll across South Dakota, I've decided to get these things up, because I started remembering things I wanted to tell you about.


First day home, we were sitting at the table sipping coffee when a group of about 12 deer meandered across our neighbors pasture and into our front yard. So we sipped coffee and killed almost an hour just watching the deer. They come frequently, but usually at night or late evening when we don't see them (except when I take the girls out for their evening potty break and see the deer scattering into the shadows from the back yard. At that point its debatable who's more startled, me or them.) This group of 12 included several of last years fawns and a nice size buck just getting his antlers back in. One of the fawns was also a buck, getting buttons on his head, and acting very macho.



That afternoon Malcolm used his tractor and bush hog (is that how you spell that?) to mow the sage brush in the pastures. It looks like a new place. We need to get some spray to kill it when it starts coming back in. The stuff smells heavenly, but it sucks the moisture out of the ground and leaves little, if any, for grass.


Wednesday morning we had a snow storm....yes you read that right. We're talking giant flakes, the biggest I've seen all winter. They were seriously about the size of golf balls. Oddly enough, this was the day that our neighbors had ordered gravel for the road. Our road is a private road so the 20 or so households all contribute money for gravel and then the neighbor, who is in charge of the collection, uses his tractor and scraper to spread it and maintain it. SO....Malcolm saw another opportunity to play with his tractor. The two of them spent several hours out grading the road in a snow storm. Round about noon it stopped, melted, and even dried out by evening.


Here's Malcolm on Friday with his tractor. Found another "chore" to do with it. There was a pile of old straw and barn litter at the back of our yard near the horse shed. It was unsightly, so Malcolm scooped it up and moved it to another location where he's composing a pile of "stuff" to dispose of. He has fun in his tractor.



Thursday I got my hair done...finally! Got to cover the sparkles starting to shine through on top. And this time I added a few caramel highlights for summer. I hate pictures alone, so Ella got suckered into joining me. Actually she didn't mind at all. She's in a very clingy stage and wants to sit with me always.



And last of course is my girls. On a trip to the pet store last week, Malcolm picked up a couple of toys for the girls. They already have one of these teddy bears, but the new one is apparently special. As soon as we got back home Monday, Paris claimed it, possessed it, and literally carried it with her where ever she went the entire time we were home. I had to take it away from her at night so she couldn't' take it to the kennel with her. I had to break up down and dirty fights because other's wanted to play with it. I had to re-assure her frequently that they weren't plotting to get her bear. They were just trying to sit in my lap, and I'm sorry they are within 1.5 feet of your bear. Its because your sitting with me to!!! She loves the new bear. And in this picture, she happened to have the old bear too.


And then Ella...During dinner Friday evening, Paris and Carlie were exhausted and went to their doggy beds while we ate, an unusual thing for them to do. Ella, also exhausted, couldn't settle in. She was determined to get in a position where she could see what we had on the table, but she could hardly keep her eyes open. Thus....the best seat in the house....up high, but still sitting....sort of.