On the road again...

Today was another productive one on the home front.

We started at about seven with a nice tree cutting session. Joel, Wayne, and I kept busy cutting and pulling out trees and cleaning them up all morning long. At one point we secured the extention ladder into the bucket and lifted it as far as it would go so Wayne could cut a branch off that was too close to the house while Joel stood at the bottom of the ladder and I ran the loader...yeah a little scary. But, we had it all tyed down so it was safer than it sounds. We managed to take down some pretty huge trees with minimal problems; best of all no one got hurt. We also cut down a few limbs at Grandma's place and did some repairs on a building there. Otherwise, Joel spread the rest of the gravel with 'Kirby' (the ultra strength New Holland skid loader), and Wayne and I finished picking up all the little branches we left here and there.

All in all, the place looks so much nicer. I can't wait to see what it looks like after a paint job! For dinner, we went in to Grandma's place where my two aunts and Virginia made belgian waffles...very very tasty. Then, we went out and finished our tree project. I helped load up and drove Wayne's pickup back to Joel's and then had Joel bring me back home were we loaded up his skid loader. I talked him into helping get our weed eater started ... and we tried and tried but the sucker won't draw fuel- so he took it with him for a rainy day. I think sometimes those things are more work than they're worth!...but he'll get it I can almost be certain.

After he left, Virginia and I gave Olluv (the german shepherd) a bath. Now, if you can imagine giving a 100lb dog a bath in a tank...it's pretty hillarious. He actually stands still pretty well for the bath itself because I'd imagine it feels good (I let the water sit out for a day in the sun). But, we didn't quite have enough warm water to rinse with so the hose came out. That part, he was not a fan of. But, when it was all said and done he got the drying towel and ran around playing with it. Apparently that made it all better:) He is now fluffier and even smells good! As soon as we finished that it was time for me to head home and get packed up. It didn't take me too long to shower, get out the door, and say goodbye to everyone. It was a nice weekend at home- busy, but really good to be home and do some work on the place.

On my way back to Martin, I stopped in Kimball to see a college friend, Sam. Her family was grilling out so I got to see everyone and eat with them! It was really nice of them and lots of fun to see Sam and her family...can't wait to do it again! Otherwise, my drive home was fairly uneventful. Although, within 20 miles from the place I managed to almost hit a deer and nearly wipe out a little kid and some other people walking on the road in the dark...not all that uncommon out here. But, I missed them all, and made it back safe. It's getting to be my bedtime!