It's Leap Day

I had intentions of doing something to celebrate this being Leap Year and Leap Day, but I didn't end up doing much.  What do you do to celebrate a day that only comes along once every 4 years?  Humm, I have 4 years to figure it out!

Leap Day Dawn

We took the old mattress and box springs out of the guest room and put together a base for the replacements from our room.  The mattress in the guest room was one we got from Andy, a motel throw away from years ago and it is so hard and uncomfortable!  The king takes up a lot of room, but it will be more comfortable for people!

We got the base all built and the foundation on, now we just
need help getting the mattress moved.

We ate supper with Andy and Susan's family, that was our celebration!  Had a good visit with them.

This house is being auctioned off.  I'd love to have the house, but
not where it sits!

Michael painted his arm blue!

Jessie and Josh putting together their animals.

Herbert, Josh's turtle.

Cold and Windy

We had a windy night, it kept waking me up with stuff clanking and banging outside.  I saw a snowplow go by on the highway early this morning, coming from up Nutrioso way.  We had a bit of snow on the ground here, just a light dusting in spots where the wind dropped it.   The weather says more wind and maybe snow today. 

Cold and snowy morning.

John took the bear out to weigh it, it weighs about 1,660 pounds!  That's a big bear!

Heading to the dump, the mountains look stormy!

Antelopes seen on the way to the dump. 

The storm is here!

We took the car up to LeSueur's Auto to have them see if they can find the module to fix the problem with it not starting when it's hot.  Hope they can find the part and get it fixed! 

The Accura is waiting to be checked out.

Wind!

It's been a windy day.  Spring must be here! 

A colorful dawn.

We ran down to SJ and John delivered the "Chasemobile"  I think it was a big hit!  Everyone loved it.  It's a bit big for Chase right now, his little legs barely reach the brake pedals and his hands have to stretch to reach the hand crank.  He tried to use it just using one arm, I think once he gets the idea and sees his siblings and cousins ride it, he will figure out how it works.  I hope it will help him develop his right arm.  Chase had a stroke last year at only 2 years of age and for a time was unable to use his right side and they weren't sure if he would walk again.  He is walking, running and getting around good, so his brain has made new pathways to send signals to his leg.  The brain is so amazing!

Chase tries out the Chasemobile.

The electricity was out again when we got home, so we went to Subway for lunch, didn't want to open the fridge and let out all the cold.   Brad Goodsell followed us home, he had a corrogated pot he gave us!  It was given to him a few years back and he said he and his wife really didn't like such things and he thought we'd appreciate it.  He tried to sell it, but with the new laws mo one wanted to take the risk because he had no paperwork with it.  The museum didn't want it either, so he thought of us.  Cool!  It will remind me of my days at Casa and the pot I helped dig out of room 10.

Corrogated Pot

I did a check on the greenhouse this afternoon and found a couple of the metal fasteners on the end had slipped, so I got John to help me fix them and put up a few extras.  The wind is picking up, yick!

The greenhouse needed a bit of tweeking today. 

Wow, look at them grow!

John and I went out to dinner with Paul Krookston.  He came by to show John the blueprint he did for the outdoor lighting for the outside of the old school.  They are planning to redo the grounds, too.  It was raining as we left!  Cold and windy tonight.

Burr, it looks cold and stormy up on the mountain!

Moving The Bear

I think John loves to lift things.  Yesterday, he hoisted the bear up and put it on the trailer.  He was going to weigh it, but the dump was closed.  Today he hoisted it off the trailer and put it in the back of the pickup.  Not sure why, LOL, guess it's a guy thing.

Hoisting the bear up in the air.

Loading the bear in the pickup.

I love to check progress in here!

I cleaned off all the stuffed animals on the tables by our bed, but I just couldn't put this one away.  Jessie brought it over for John when he got his ankle operated on and told him "I brought that Simpson Girl to watch over you, she will take care of you!"  So, she's still there watching over him.

"That Simpson Girl"

Did laundry today. The wind blew a bit and it wasn't as warm today.

Where Have All The Rabbits Gone? Long Time Missing. . .

We have noticed on our walks lately that we aren't seeing any rabbits.  Last summer and fall, we often saw them.  There are two big Hawks hanging around the area, are they the cause of the decline of the rabbits?  Today lots was going on along our walk route.  Guys on 4 wheelers taking hay to cows, a coyote in the pasture with the elk and cows.  We watched it, but didn't see it bothering the livestock.  We saw the cows owners on our way back and told them about it, they had noticed and said there are two of them!  They figure the cows with horns will take care of any coyote problems!

Could this be the cause of us not seeing rabbits anymore?

The coyote is in the middle of the field, the same field where
there are cattle.

On the other side of the road, cows are being fed.

By the time we started home the wind was blowing and it was a breezy day.

Tomatoes are up

John finished the bear!  He loaded him on the trailer and gave him a bath to wash off all the welding dust, then parked him in front.

Hoisting him up to load him on the trailer.

The bear's first bath. 

Today was the grand opening of the new Chamber and they had tours of the museums and a ceremony at 6 pm.
 

The new home of the Chamber and museums

Renee' Cushman

John in the Cushman Museum

Brad playing the piano in the Cushman Museum

I got to visit with Linda for a bit.

The room where the opening ceremony was held.

Art lines the hallway in the new Chamber building

John's art at the chamber

The Sound of Silence. . .

 We had a yummy breakfast this morning, left over chili on top of an omelet, with melted cheese on top. MMMM, good!

Breakfast this morning, an omelet topped with left over red Chili
from last night.  MMMM good!

As we reached the one mile point from our house this morning on our walk and paused to turn around, we were both struck by the silence around us.  No traffic, no sirens, no animals, nothing.  As we started towards home, the only sound we heard was the sound our feet made as they hit the ground.  So unusual for our walks!  We enjoyed the all too brief moment as we were soon back to the sounds of traffic and birds chirping. 

Animal tracks, maybe raccoon?

Our turn around point.

The mountains are still sporting a white coat.

It was a beautiful day today, clear, no wind and warm.  It felt like spring for the first time this year. 
Things in the greenhouse continue to grow and seeds to sprout, such fun!

My greenhouse, where it's spring already.

John made two trips to the dump today, he took trash and some limbs, then came back to load up the rest from our trimming yesterday and this time I went with him.  The hill by the dump burned on Wednesday, the guy at the dump told John the game and fish burned it.  The paper made it sound like an accidental burning.

We passed by a huge herd of antelope on the dump road. 

Dumping branches

Logs at the Sawmill

I wonder if these came from the Wallow Fire area?

The burned area

The new airport terminal under construction, wow are we getting
uptown or what!

The Chasemobile is finished.

Kayle, Becky and Brooke came over to check out the greenhouse this afternoon, they are going to build one.  I picked the first veggie today, a radish and cut it in half and shared it with John.  Pretty good!

The first produce from the greenhouse.

And here's what I did with my half, LOL, I topped my pizza with it.

Night Three

Night three on the new mattress, John is sleeping better, the bed isn't a tangled mess from his tossing and turning all night to get comfortable and he is sleeping later and hasn't been able to nap during the day, signs that maybe he is getting more rest at night.  I'm still waking up hurting, I thought maybe the pillow was too fat and changed back to my old one last night, but that didn't help, seems like I was in more pain with the old one, so back to the new one tomorrow night.  More sleep studies are in order before I decide if I like this new bed or not.

As we were sitting in the sun room enjoying our morning break, John noticed that the lawn was covered in pine needles again.  So after break he went out to rake them up, that started a clean up, we trimmed the bushes by the side of the house and raked out under them.  We worried about them last summer during the fire, but didn't have time to clear them out.  John found burned wood from the fire underneath, so had they been burning embers, they would have burned up the bushes and maybe the house.

All trimmed up and cleaned out, wow, they look naked! 

Went shopping this afternoon, came home and cooked up a batch of red chili.  Talked to Jes on the phone, she is home sick today.  Anthony is home visiting and they took some cute pictures and uploaded to facebook.

The new building next to Bashas, sure seems like they're slow
finishing it. 

Red Chili

Jessie and Anthony