Preparations

As you may have noticed, except for recipes, there hasn't been a lot of activity here on the blog this month.  So what have we been up to?  Well, we haven't been traveling (as we often are in June).  In fact, I cancelled two trips within the last 30 days simply because we have been so busy here at home.  What have we been doing?  Preparing.  Preparing for this very week!  This Friday my Daddy, and therefore my Mama, are finally retiring for GOOD!  There will be a reception for them Friday afternoon which will be immediately followed by the annual family reunion, which will be hosted here at Willis Creek Ranch this year.  We are so excited to be welcoming a LOT of people in this weekend!  I can't wait!

But, all the company coming in made us realize how much work there was to be done around home.  You know how you go along for months, even years, letting things slide?  Then suddenly you look with fresh eyes and you see the horrors right in front of you!  That is what happened to us.  :)  So, along with all the regular seasonal transition type work that has to be done every year, we have been trying to shape this place up.  Believe me, that is a much harder job than we anticipated.    And truly, I probably shouldn't even share that we are working so hard, because I fear the end result won't look like much.  But, as they say, you should've seen it before!!  :)

We have replaced 3 windows in the house, repaired holes in siding, painted fence, planted grass and mowed grass, worked on massive landscaping projects, cleaned house, organized pantries, put together a new grill and trampoline, gotten out the pool for the season, worked horses, played tennis, walked miles, sanded outdoor furniture, tried to paint furniture (I gave up on this one...) and power-washed anything standing out here including 3 houses, 2 barns and a lot of fence.  To top it off, Daddy is having a new dock built for the pond to be delivered by Friday.  I simply cannot believe he managed to pull that one off, but he did!  Amazing.  

And in the midst of all this Marvin has been nursing Runner through an abscessed hoof for over 2 weeks.  Twice daily Marvin has been soaking Runner's hoof in a bucket of warm water and Epsom salts trying to work the abscess out.  It was pretty touch and go there for awhile, but now looks like all is going to fully heal and be okay.  Whew!

the hay guy even got here in time to bale our hay!

hay bales in the sunset

I like this shot Jackson got of the equipment in the sunset.

Landscaping.... ah, the bane of our existence.  We are not good at this at all.  We laugh and say we grow annual perennials, but we aren't really kidding.  :/  My sister is the greenest of thumbs and tries valiantly to help us out, though.  She helped me choose some new plantings that she feels might actually survive our clay ground and 'us'.  After a full day of shopping for plants and flowers, poor Marvin got to do all the manual labor while I took Mama and Julie out to dinner.  That really is awful, isn't it?  I don't deserve him!!   :)

This stump from an old bush took him all day long to dig out.  

He had to use the log chain and the tractor!

and he's still smiling!

digging out all the old gravel to put in new dirt and plantings

Mama and Jonathan redid our front flower bed - so lovely!

this doesn't look like much here, but it was laying out the plan for new plantings...

where that awful stump was...

again, laying out a new plan...

at least I have been feeding them well through all this!  Even if Jackson does look rather 'deadish'...

Jackson has had a lot of fence to paint...

And here is a funny story... Julie told me to get packing peanuts to put in the bottom half of my planter pots, then put a layer of coffee filters, then potting soil.  That way I can just change out the top layer of potting soil each year and not have to use as much.  Plus, the packing peanuts will help with drainage.  Great idea!  And I just happened to have a dear friend who was moving away at the time and gave me 2 big trash bags full of packing peanuts that showed up in a big box she got to pack stuff in.  We dutifully followed Julie's instructions, then watered the new plants.  Guess what we discovered?  The packing peanuts are the biodegradable kind... you know, the kind that dissolve when you put water on them?  These pots all started out with dirt above the top.  Within about 30 minutes they had sunk down this far.  They are now about halfway down the pots.  ha!  We laughed so hard when we found out - and we don't have plans to change it just yet.  :)

Note - you should only be laughing at the sinking dirt, NOT at the pitiful looking plants.  ;)

Jackson has been cleaning a LOT of tack.  Man, had that stuff gotten dirty.  

And with so many saddles, bridles and the biggie, harness, he has had his hands full.  

he spotted me taking his photo and closed me out!   :D

I will have to try to come back at some point with some 'after' shots.  I realize after looking back over this post that nothing really looks good yet.  But, it will!  And besides, we still have at least 36 more hours, right?!?!    :D