It's Saturday, but...

let's do some bullets anyway. Besides, it's all I've got for tonight.
  • We may be deep in winter #5 (yes, it snowed again today), but the table is fully in spring mode.

And those things in the vase? Those are little catkins from the willow in our yard. The same willow which was totally uprooted in a storm last summer. I guess it wasn't totally uprooted. Aren't they beautiful?


  • On Friday we had part of the driveway regraded and more gravel put down. The pot holes had become so bad that we had all been perfecting our slalom skills to avoid them. It turns out they were so deep that even regrading didn't get rid of them. It was a lot of gravel.

Looks nice, huh? It took two full truckloads to do that and fill in the holes, which is one more than I really wanted to pay for. Those two truckloads got as far as the house. In full disclosure, here is what it looks if I turn around from where I was standing.


But the driveway is in much better shape this direction, so I think we'll be okay. (Like we have a choice. The money for gravel is done in.) It is such a long driveway!
  • Despite the weather, I had my first group class of the season today. It was a 4-H club who wanted to come out and learn about horses. It went well despite the weather. I really do love introducing people to horses. The horses seemed really excited to have something going on in the barn, too.
  • I got to have lunch this week with a good friend who I haven't seen for over a year. It was great to have a chance to catch-up. I've now lived out here long enough that I have a friend who I can catch-up with. It's yet one more of those little milestones that add up to making one feel at home.
  • K. is having a great weekend. His friend spent the night here last night, and today they both caught the train back to Chicago where he will spend the night tonight. Tomorrow, the P. Family will get him on the correct train, and he'll come home. 
  • I can feel myself getting closer and closer to announcing that if we make it through what I had planned for school, I will call summer vacation. If we're being honest, my enthusiasm for school wanes far sooner than my children's. It's probably a good thing winter #5 decided to join us, because if the weather were nice.... 
  • I spent yesterday giving the tack room a deep cleaning. During the winter when it is so dang cold, I just end up tossing things in and piling them up. Plus, barns and tack rooms (if they're in a barn) are incredibly dusty places. It was just messy and dirty. While the tack room will never be pristine, it is now at least organized, and the top layer of grime has been cleaned off everything.
  • We're about 2/3 of the way through Jane Eyre right now and [spoiler alert, if you haven't read it and want things to be a surprise, stop reading] Mr. Rochester and Jane just got engaged followed by the storm splitting the oak tree in two. One of my children commented, "Well, that doesn't bode well," and another child mentioned that with so much left to the book, things are not looking positive for Jane. Y. is annoyed because I don't usually read our teatime book on weekends and she wants to know what happens. They are a very amusing group of children to read out loud to.
  • W. saw a listing for two free llamas looking for a home. It's probably just as well when he tried to find it again to send it to me, he couldn't find it. Llamas would be a fun addition to the farm, don't you think?
  • Yes, I realize that my desire for more animals is at odds with my checkbook. Needing money to pay for things is so inconvenient sometimes. (All the time?) If we had unlimited money there is no telling how many animals we would have... more horses, a friend for Vienna, sheep, alpacas, etc. etc.
And now I can tell that I've headed into rambling territory, so I'll stop here for the evening. If you are not having winter #5, be sure to go outside and enjoy the nice weather for those of us who are.

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