This and That

What a difference a week makes! After several days of winter-like weather, today we are enjoying temps in the 60s, bright blue skies and lots of sun! I've had the windows open, dogs and cats have enjoyed going in and out, and I am so looking forward to planting my gardens...but not for another month at least! Around here, the suggested planting date is after May 20, which is usually when any danger of frost has past. Our seedlings are growing into quite nice plants and Neal's beans have surpassed everything. We decided to take them out of the egg cartons and t.p. rolls and repot them, and it seems they are enjoying having the extra room.

Poor Captain D recently underwent a minor surgery to clean out his anal glands. Neal noticed him fretting and licking his hind quarters last week, and after a trip to the vet it was determined he had a ruptured gland. After 7 days of antibiotics, he still wasn't healing like he should, so he had to go back to the vet for more aggressive measures. He was back to his old self in less than 24 hours, but when he got home after surgery, he was still in a drug-induced haze and looking quite pitiful. Talk about making us feel guilty!

Things are coming along with our building plans for our country property. We recently had a perc test done, got our septic permit and now we have our building permit. Neal is serving as general contractor, and we are hiring out sub-contractors to do the excavation and concrete, building and framing, and rough-in plumbing. We are buying our own doors and windows and will gradually finish off the interior as time and money allow. We met with the builder and concrete guy last week and as soon as the weather warms up and the snow melts, we're ready to get started!

Along the route to our property, there is the headquarters for a horse adventure packing company called Bear Basin Ranch. I have no idea how much property they own, but it must be hundreds of acres because on most days you can see horses out grazing everywhere. On our trip last week, we found these guys close to the road, so Neal pulled over and hopped out to see if they would allow some affection.

Not only did they allow the affection, but they were quite curious about our trailer hitched to the back of the Jeep. One of them even entertained the idea of taking a bite out of the spare tire on the trailer. Captain and George were with us on this trip and they were not at all impressed by the intruders that approached our vehicle!