Sunday, May 18, 2014

A few days from the end of the winter.

As It's been pointed out to me, the busy times of our life over the past few months have made for a neglected family diary.

I'm cheating here:  These posts, this one and the previous from the book release, are posts I threw the pictures up for a month ago, and never had time to add the text to.

So a partial catch-up, as of a month or so back.

This cute little lady, who plans her outfits, and her hair styles, the previous night.  This one required a tight braid right after bath-time so that her hair would be curly in the morning.


The brewery.  Not sure what's up with them, they haven't brewed in a while and their bottling line still isn't up and running.  We're hoping things are solvent, and are making contingency plans if they aren't. While I have mixed feelings about alcohol, I'm very fond of small town businesses and employers, especially when they live in historic brick buildings.  


It was a Dr. Seuss week at Caspian's school.


This was a Sunday that we did get out of our PJs and made it to the nature preserve for a family canoe trip.


This pretty lady, the accomplished businesswoman and author that she is, hasn't grown up all that much. 


Notice the turtle in the background?  I love turtles.

We were watching the osprey in the nest high in the tower.


On the mile long drive home, we made a stop to satiate Alexe's daffodil craving.


It's been long enough since I finished fencing the front pasture that I've felt the craving to start prepping the back pasture.  Lots of work here clearing the old barbed wire fence line, removing all the barbed wire, replacing all the posts, and stringing the six high tensile lines.


I can't remember what exactly this trip to Oxford was for, but the kids have come with me a few times on material-sourcing expeditions.  We stopped for lunch...


Ice cream. (Yogurt, actually.  Still no full fat soft serve anywhere around here.)


A bit of a snooze on the ride home.  They started by faking, and moments later they were both passed out.


They've spent much of today fighting, but often they are best friends.


Jon Dee Graham came through town and played another concert in my office.  Annaliese was my date, though she spent half the concert sitting in the front row by herself.


Look how bug she is!


And this boy helps me with chores almost every night when I get home from work.


Jeremiah, working on the f600 that came with the project buildings.  This boy is 300lbs of Montana born muscle and heft, and look at how comfy he is in the engine compartment.  He got her running after a day of tinkering, and then snapped something in the carburetor that we haven;t been able to find a replacement for.  Did I mention he's a strong lad?  We have a pile of tool handles at the worksite that have snapped in his hands.  


The welder who is making the two sets of exterior stairs and all the porch railings for the buildings also churns out cute custom projects.  This is a salad bar.


The puzzle king.  He loves puzzle, and most evenings if he's up past his bedtime, he's quietly doing a puzzle at the foot of his bed.





The same puzzle, done three times, back to back.


The storm shelter, ready for the final pour of fiber-enforced concrete for the roof and to infill the walls.


The interior supports to hold up the concrete while it sets.


Post-pour, with the interior supports removed, (that was a job, ultimately requiring a chainsaw,) and the front door framing in place.


Steel door on.  The radio was for the first dance party the kids held on the new roof.  When we find the right one, there'll be a swing up there.


Another puzzle.


And another one.


And another one.


There was a spread on us in Preservation Magazine. 


I was strong-armed onto the pool committee at the country club, and we decided to take the roof off the old pool house to make it safe for kids to use for changing.  This country club is long past it's prime, and barely avoided bankruptcy a couple years ago.  There is no money for much, and with monthly dues of $65 per family there isn't likely to be any for a while.  


Luckily removal of roofs doesn't cost anything beyond a few hours of volunteer labor, especially when you don't plan on replacing them.


Kaboom.  A little pressure washing later, and we've got a few concrete block changing rooms for the kids.  


I love seeing these cows out in my newly reclaimed, fenced in pastures.


A crawfish boil at Dr. G's house.


Art time.


Both kids were signed up for baseball this year.  Which was a mistake.  There were practices, multiple games per child per week, not necessarily on the same nights, and the games last over an hour.  And there's not much active time for kids in this lauded "sport", lots of time running around the bull pen, and more time playing in the dirt in the outfield.


The kids came to work with me one day.  Sitting in the kitchen doorway of one of the apartments, (new brick steps,) watching the city guys lay down the new sewer main.



Another puzzle.


After the pig roast, and the trip to the butcher for the other two pigs, this lady started busting out of her pen to hang out with the cows, who would head butt her to try to drive her away.  After trying to shoo her back to her paddock and having her run to the cow shed to hide, I realized she was lonely.

She now has a boyfriend, on loan from Billy Ray, and hasn't tried to break out since he arrived.


We found this guy after I had been doing some brush work with the tractor.  I must have run over him.  Caspian put him in a tupperware container, and a few days later added water, and left him outside to bake, all the while talking about how he'll have two stores when he grows up, a love snake store, and a dead snake store.

I found that tupperware much later.  It was horrible.


This was a snail that was released to the wild without any harm coming to it.


Brush clearing continues.


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