June 21st to 23rd - 100 Mile House

June 21st – Mon – 100 Mile House
Terry & I got a late working start this morning as we had to finish the jigsaw puzzle. Dad had the chainsaw sharpened and the windlass taken apart & modified before we got outside. Terry lifted me with the tractor again so I could move the top pulleys for the pontoon boat to avoid having the boat right over your head when winding it up & down. Dad’s modifications to the windlass made it easier to turn so the project is a success.
We raked up the junk from cleaning the gutters and shoveled up the empty seeds below the bird feeders. Marg had mixed up Roundup to spray along the fence lines and today was finally still enough with no threat of showers so we got that job done. Dad was waiting for us when we got back with another little project. A corner of the yard beside the deck is one of Sage’s favorite spots for digging big holes and also serves as a litter box for the cats. Dad figured we needed to build a small retaining wall with some recycled bricks, get some dirt and plant grass which he would cover with wire until the grass was thick enough to discourage the dog & cats. So Terry changed the forks on the tractor to the bucket and we drove into a field to get some dirt – keeping in mind that there is not a lot of excess dirt in this part of the Cariboo. Then we needed more bricks and then more dirt!
We celebrated the new deck and a beautiful first day of summer with a drink at the picnic table.
After dinner, Terry & I took an ATV to the neighbors to talk about helping them drive in some fence posts. Marg had offered but never got together with them. We will go there tomorrow at 6 – they have 90 posts to put in! They (Ralph & Jeanna) have horses, sheep & miniature goats. Two of the goats have triplets which are sooo cute. One baby kept getting up on the mom’s back and just standing up there.

June 22nd – Tues – 100 Mile House
We helped Dad find the grass seed, sow it and place wire over the dirt. We tied up & trimmed a shrub, watered in the garden & moved flowers from the greenhouse outside.
After lunch, Terry & I took the chainsaw and cut up a tree that had fallen across a fence. The electric fence was not reading as high as we wanted so we rode the whole perimeter to check it. We disconnected pieces and checked until we knew which section was causing the problem but we could not find what was wrong. There is enough current to zap an animal pretty well so we left it. Then we installed a “door” so the chickens could go from one run to another right beside it that has very tall weeds & grass. Dad pulls grass to feed to the chickens each day and figured they should be able to clean up the stuff right beside them. The baby chicks are in the half of the chicken house with access to the grassy run so we can’t just let the chickens have the run of the whole thing – whew!
Terry & I rode to Steve & Leanne’s (friends & neighbors) to get a couple of Marg’s large steel poles & visited with them for a while. Then Dad, Terry & I just sat out on the porch and enjoyed a glass of iced tea while a very brief shower passed over.
Ralph stopped by to say that Jeanna had to go see her Mom who is very ill and asked if we could do the fence posts tomorrow. So we had a pretty light day.

June 23rd – Wed – 100 Mile House
Terry played computer games for a while this morning while I puttered around doing some housecleaning. Then we went to town for groceries & a bag of grain.
We didn’t have a project to work on so I got a big box of wheels that Dad saved when he dismantled barbeques (to use the legs to make shelves) and started on an “art” project. First I had to wash all the wheels and decided to use the back of the chicken house for my “canvas”. Then I nailed the wheels on in a wavy line – pretty simple and probably a little hokey but fun. Francis & Nichole stopped by to visit, bring scraps for the chickens and see what all we have done.
I had to get dinner made so I didn’t finish my art work. After dinner, we took the tractor and pounded in fence posts with Ralph. Dad & I made starter holes with a large metal pole, Terry drove the tractor and Ralph lined things up and operated the post pounder. Things went pretty well until the pounder broke on the 20th post. A threaded metal rod broke off so it is serious. Terry will take it apart tomorrow to see if we can get it fixed.
I spoke to Marg. They were back in the church parking lot in Burns Lake and will be home on Friday afternoon.