calf update

 Both Diana and Rocky are doing well. They have both about doubled in size.

Diana's fur is coming in black underneath the brown  Her coloration resembles a buffalo if you look closely at her head.

New calves

 This is Diana. We got her a couple weeks ago, but weren't sure she was going to make it. Her mama had abandoned her out in the field, so she was cold and hungry when she was found. The rancher didn't have time or inclination to bottle feed her, so Heather took her to Lisa.

 This is Scotty or maybe Rocky. His name is not fully settled yet. He belonged to one of the vets from the clinic who could no longer bottle raise him due to surgery. So we bought him and put him in with Diana. Cows do better with companions.

Even though Diana is several weeks older than Scotty, the two are just about the same size. Her fur is also a little sun bleached. Both calves are black angus. Lisa is doing a good job with these two.

Walkway is capped

 This past Sunday, Heather picked up some concrete and we got her walkway to the barn capped.

 Allen finally got to help with a concrete project. He has missed the last few we had for Lisa. He was excited about this one.

Walkway is covered and (mostly) smoothed out. I did not have a trowel, so it was smoothed with the back of a shovel. Heather needed a slightly rougher surface for slip resistance, anyway.

Walkway rebuild AGAIN

 The rain we got this past Thursday washed the walkway out again. I had ALMOST finished filling it in from the last time it washed out.

It took the truck to work today and got another 9 buckets full of fill. It got pretty close to where it was before. I still need a couple more and then we'll concrete it in next weekend. That should keep it from washing out any more.

Back from New Hampshire

I got back from my trip to Allen's in New Hampshire Wednesday night. This was our progress at the end of our work session Wednesday. The sub-floor is assembled, the front and back walls are assembled, and the long walls are each 16 ft long, but need another 8 ft. added to be complete. We couldn't attach anything to the frame because they still haven't issued him a building permit, so we were " pre-assembling" everything we could. Allen has a lot more detail and more pictures on his blog.

Becky's visit and lake visit

 Becky was here for a short visit and really enjoyed playing with Kimmie the lamb. Poppie plays a bit rough for the lamb so we have to keep an eye on them.

 Heather and I took the boat up to Cave Run Lake today. We had a beautiful day, sunny and warm.

 We caught a bunch of fish. They were all little, but still fun to catch.

 Heather drove the boat back to the other end of the lake. She had fun. It's been a long time since she drove the boat. She had to get used to the steering being less precise than a car's steering.

She did a fine job and we had a great time. I got to go for a swim, too. The water was 80 today.

First lake trip of 2017

 Heather and I took the boat up to Cave Run Lake this morning. It was WAY busier than I thought it would be, with a lot of out of state boats out on the lake.

 We had warm and windy conditions today, with the water warmer than I had figured at 72. I was thinking upper 60's. It was still a nice day to be out. Willow went with us, too.

Here we have a spot for a "roadrunner tunnel" with a couple of channel marker bouys that broke loose and drifted over to the the rock face that makes up the shoreline in that spot. I wonder if it would work...

Hitch time

 After the mess I made of the boat coupler with the ball on the bumper, I ordered a receiver hitch. It came on Thursday.

I borrowed Lisa & Jim's garage today (it rained almost all day) and put it on. It is only a class 3, but that is still more than the truck is rated to pull, so it will be fine.

Sprouted

We have plants sprouting in each barrel along the two rows I put in.

The plants are looking good so far. I hope it stays like that.

Only one of them doesn't have the second row yet, but it has only been a week since we planted them.

Filled and planted

 I added a piece of landscape fabric over the drain holes in the bottom of the barrel, then Heather and I started filling it. We had plenty of "compost" laying around.

We filled up to about 3" from the top of the barrel and topped it off with bagged topsoil. All four are full and planted with spinach, two kinds of lettuce, and three kinds of onions & scallions. Now we wait and see how they do.

Experimental garden project

 It all started with an idea Lisa sent over and a couple extra plastic barrels she had.

 First, I cut the barrels in half lengthwise. There were 2 barrels, so it made 4 beds. I managed to cut them both a little crooked so they look authentic.

 We all got sent home from work early this morning due to last night's heavy rain. I went to the lumber yard for the supplies to build the framework and got started.

 I was going to put a third set of legs under it, but it didn't seem to need a full leg. Instead, I just put in the lower part of the leg in the center.

Both units are now ready to be filled with soil and have something planted in them. Lettuce and spinach for sure, and we'll figure out the rest.

Spring preparation

 I cleaned up the mower deck this morning. The buildup underneath was not bad, especially since I never cleaned the deck out last year.

 It looks good with the fresh coat of paint and the new blades. That also helps to keep the grass from sticking under the deck.

 I charged the battery, changed the oil and filter, and cleaned the air filter and aired up the tires. One of the back tires was a bit low.

I also sprayed a couple cans of red paint into the bed of the truck. All the shoveling this week had scraped a lot of the paint off the bed and I don't want it to rust out. It really is red, even though it looks kind of orange.

Another load

I got another load of topsoil yesterday and spread it in between the waves of rain that weren't supposed to be falling. I didn't get any pictures yesterday because of that. This load was a little bigger and made it all the way to the cedar tree in the picture. Mowing the yard will be easier now.

Dirt!

Yesterday, I found a place in Jeffersonville that had topsoil. There haven't been any that I found for the last couple of years. So, this morning, I picked up a load to continue filling in the yard indents.

 I had started buying bags of topsoil to fill the yard in, but that doesn't go very far and it's expensive.

 This load actually finished off the front yard all the way to the horses' water trough.

I even filled in the small one from the electric line.

Surprise snow

 We woke up to a coating of snow that we weren't supposed to get.

 It was only about an inch, but it still was a surprise to see it.

 By noon, much of it was gone.

 The gravel in the driveway and the road normally melt first.

 By 4pm, almost all traces of it have disappeared, just a couple little white spots here and there.

It's ok, though. We really didn't want any more of it now. It's time for spring!

Replacement bird houses

 A couple of the old houses were falling down. The first one I pulled down fell apart when I grabbed it.

 I used a couple of pieces of scrap lumber from the pallet factory right down the road. They usually have a small pile of scraps out in front. The wood is too thin for them to use. It IS harder to work with for me, too.

 There were a few missed nails and a crack or two, but the birds really won't care.

They are already checking the houses out. The remaining two houses could wait until next year for replacement if need be. They are in a bit better shape than these were.