Pool season is officially over

We worked hard and got the pool all set up in one very long day. It is not as easy as it looks.

We had an unusaully cool Summer so we closed the pool early. The water temperature had dropped to 60, so even if we have a few hot days it would not warm back up enough to swim comfortably.

It does give us something to look forward to next year!

Here is a brief look back on the swimming season.










This is the very popular "Throw me Daddy! Game".






Our little Phelps. He is an absolute fish.

Fireworks

I know this belongs in the Independence Day post, but these pictures did not make it there.

Minime got his first hands-on experience with fireworks and he is addicted! We had lots of fun and don't worry, were very careful and explained the ins and outs of firwork safety to him.

I missed fireworks more than I can tell you when we were living in New England. Every July 4th seemed empty somehow. This was the best 4th of July weekend we have had in many, many years. (All the good friends here celebrating with us made a huge difference too!)

Spring time Falcons

Before we got the work finished on the soffit we had an American Kestrel decide to make a home in our attic! Well, we couldn't evict her when Mr. Fixit crawled into the attic and discovered two whit fluffy babies in the nest.

We put the soffit repair project on hold and waited for the babes to leave the nest for good. Come to find out this took a little longer than we thought because even after the chicks take their first few flights they still return to the nest every night for a few weeks.

Mr. Fixit and mama Kestrel became good friends learning to trust one another. She would fly in and out of the nest and sit and watch him work without screeching and crying out. This pleased Mr. Fixit! LOL

The missing vent:

Mama out getting dinner:

First baby out:

Can you guess which is the boy and which is the girl?

Peekaboo!

I am happy to report the soffit is repaired. I hope mama nests somewhere nearby next Spring.

Remember the addition project?

Well, these aren't the best pictures, but here is how it is looking now.

I will do more pictures soon that show it better.

Wow! Lots to catch up on.

We have been so busy that I just have not had a chance to get here and update the blog. I will do my best to catch up.

We have had a lot of insects hanging around. There have been lots of different praying mantis', a humming bird moth, and ones I don't recognize yet.

There have been snakes, deer, and birds of all kinds.

So, here for your viewing pleasure.....pictures.

What a wonderful Independence Day!

Our new additions have arrived! We had a little change in plans on the horses. We did end up with Shadow who is the 4 year old black and grey Quarter Horse. But, instead of getting Gypsy, we got Jazmine. Jazmine is a Missouri Fox Trotter who just turned 2.

I can not begin to tell you how sweet these two are. I am very excited to start working with them and riding. For now we are working bare back until we get some tack.

MiniMe really surprised me. He has never had the opportunity to be around horses and he did great! He was very comfortable and fell in love right away. I loved how he would just sit on the horses, lay his hands on them, close his eyes and just smile. He goes down several times a day so he can kiss their noses.

There are quite a few pictures, so please be patient while they load.

The deck and new addition

This is what it started out looking like..................

Here is where it is at now.................

As you can see the siding is going up and the deck is almost complete. Mr. Fixit is waiting on our window delivery so he can get the window installed that will go next to the door. We are also waiting on the screen door to arrive.

This turned out to be a much bigger project than we originally thought. Mr. Fixit wound up having to completely re-build the foundation and tear off the entire back wall. There was much more to it than that, but you get the idea.