Strange Happenings

There are some strange things going on around here. I was walking by the bathroom the other day, I hear Barb having a full-on conversation behind the closed door. What?!?! Who the hell talks on their phone in the bathroom? Then I walk into the kitchen and see her phone on the counter. A minute later the bathroom door opens up and out walks Zoey followed by Barb. Actually, that is a pretty regular occurrence as Zoey just follows Barb pretty much everywhere. If Barb is able to sneak into the bathroom without her, this usually occurs. 

Momma, let me in!

Strange thing #2. According to our "plan" we are supposed to be up in North Dakota right now helping plant the spring crop. Last year at this time we were a couple of days into planting. But 30+ inches of snow up there changed that in a hurry. Here are a couple of pictures Dylan took from up there. 

So needless to say we are in a holding pattern down here waiting for word that the fields are ready. In the meantime, we are getting a few things done around the house. The odd thing about it is that we have to think of things to do rather than look around and see an over abundance of things that need to get done. Barb and I both focused on the dresser this week and got it done! After making the drawer fronts last week, Barb put several coats of varnish on them while I worked on the top. 

The top consists of 3 pieces of 2" blue pine slabs, the front one has a live edge on it. I cut them to length, notched them to fit and put them in place and glued them together. Once the glue was dry, Barb sanded and varnished them. 

Dresser top ready to be finished!

The last step was to put on the drawer fronts and we were done! 

I can now see why custom furniture is so expensive. We have $400 into wood and another $200 into drawer slides. It was an interesting project and I learned a lot about what to do and not do next time. 

I was also able to sneak away for a day and help Kevin install Dan and Bonnie's countertop so now they have a functional kitchen!

                Starting on the island                                                Getting ready to cut in the cooktop  

All Done!

   

Kevin and Dan ready for a beer

One day we had a group of 15 mule deer stop by for a visit. We have not seen that many in quite a while. Two of the bucks still had their antlers. Well, I should say 1 1/2 of the bucks still had their antlers as the bigger one was missing one side. 

Zoey got jealous when Barb was taking pictures of the deer so she insisted that we get her picture with one. 

Barb and I have been out several more times looking for shed antlers but have yet to find any. We have been going several miles away from home where we have seen the elk in the past. You would think with the thousands of elk and tens of thousands of deer we would trip over one eventually but so far nothing. It is good to get out and walk the hills though!

Little Chippy looking for nuts

Chickadee

I think all the cattle are done having their calves, so there are lots of babies on the property. Which brings me to strange thing #3. These cows seem to congregate around certain manmade items. In our case it has been the windmill, old water tank and the front gate by the cattle guard. It is like they have a meeting in the morning and say "Okay, after breakfast, we all split up. 10 go to the front gate, 1/3rd to the water tank and the rest to the windmill." They are such odd animals. 

Easter morning I woke up, stumbled out of the bedroom and Barb greeted me with a big smile and said "Happy Easter, time to find your basket!" Really? I have been up for like 30 seconds and you want to play games with me?!?!? Actually, I love that she does this and before I knew it I found it and was high on a sugar rush!

Strange thing #4 is that my phone died last week and I lost all my contacts. I was able to recover some from Barb's phone but I am still missing many of my friends and even family members.  So, here is my PSA for the week. If you have not received a call or text from me lately and you have my phone number starting with (385) 335-xxxx can you please send me a text with your name and phone number so I can get you back in my contacts? Please include your name in your text!

Lastly, I got a personal note from my good friend Harry saying how much he missed the dog videos so I included 40 seconds of pure love for your viewing pleasure! 

It is amazing how Zoey can go from 90 to 0 in a matter of seconds. When I stopped recording, she walked over to the dog bed and she was down!