The other day we had the goats out in the yard, and they started running toward us just as Henry started running to the trampoline and right across their path.  Emily yelled “Henry!  Look out!”  Henry panicked and hit the deck, tornado-drill-style, right in front of a charging Banjo.  Banjo very gracefully did a picture-perfect high jump right over him, and never broke stride.  Henry cried a bit because he was scared, but he didn’t get hurt.

We had the vet out last week to see all our farm animals.  For my reference, she gave CD-T to the goats, and rabies and West Nile vaccinations to the horses.  Brad also got CD-T.  She said to give Brad injectable ivermectin once a month during warm weather months to protect him from brain-worm.  Goats can be dewormed twice or three times a year.

We planted three apple trees and a cherry tree about a month ago.  They seem to be doing fine.  If they look good next year, we’ll plant more.  We’d eventually like a nice sized orchard on the other side of the drive.  We did a lot of clearing of brush over there and Emily has been working on it with the mower.

We’ve been finding lots of snakes lately – mostly in and around the hay.  Lots of redbellies and a few garter snakes.

Our pond is full of minnows!  More than I’ve ever seen, and some really big ones too.

That’s what Henry says when we give him something or do something nice for him.

Henry: I’m a lucky boy

Dad: Why?

Henry: Because you bought me balloons!

N = the number of bolts holding on a component you need to take off a machine.

N – 1 = the number of bolts that you’ll be able to remove.

I really need to work on this site more!

Delia and I spent Thurs – Sat on Basswood Lake with our neighbors.  The weather was pretty bad but we had a good time and Delia wanted to stay out another night.  Delia caught a walleye and ate it!

Henry and I went fishing today for the first time today.  I caught a 20″ largemouth on Johnson Lake – my biggest bass ever (at least in MN).  Emily and I worked hard to get rid of the leaks in the boat and it worked.  Not a single drop came through.  The motor performed well but did have one instance of surging / bogging.  I’ll keep an eye on it.

The big news is our house addition which is moving along, though it feels like it’s going slowly.  That’s just how this type of thing goes, and I think we’re finally getting very close to starting demolition and construction.  We can’t wait!

Joe and Bev were here and we did some work reclaiming our land from the onslaught of brush.  We bought a device called a brush grubber, which is basically a clamp with teeth that grabs onto small trees so you can yank them out by the roots.  It works great.  We cleared a lot and Emily mowed and now the land across the driveway is looking great.  We planted three apple trees and a cherry tree over there.  Some day maybe we’ll have a nice orchard there.

Henry is speaking more clearly but he still has a ways to go.  He’s so talkative and it’s adorable.

Delia and I made a trip to Nama’s house, and Delia did great – Nama made sure of that by spoiling the heck out of her.  :)  They had a day in Chicago and went to the American Girl store, where Delia adopted Felicity.

My garage is really taking shape.  We can almost fit a car in there now.  :)

We lost two cats in a short time.  Harvi developed liver disease and Coby had cancer (or something – we’re not sure).  It was sad and we miss them, but 3 is a more manageable number of cats in one house.

The slide  - the one we bought a year and a half ago and already cost us two full day’s rental and effort jackhammering and hauling and now three partial days of sledgehammering, post hole digging, lifting, jacking, leveling, and concrete pouring – is up.  Holy crap was that an ordeal.  Let me tell you – the kids had better like it, because if they don’t, Christmas is cancelled for the next several years.

When Henry went down it the first time, he stood at the bottom and said “me bove it!”  I hope he keeps on boving it.  Unfortunately the slide part is metal and gets very hot in the sun.  We’re thinking about running water down it to make it a waterslide.  :)

It’s a really cool slide.  I’m guessing it’s from the early 70s.  It was once at the golf course in Virginia, and then set up at a house in Britt since 1989.  It’s all fiberglass, and weighs probably 500 lbs.  We strapped it to an axle and rolled it out of the barn.  We then dug 8 post holes in our horrifically rocky ground.  Then we very carefully and very slowly lifted it, using various configurations of jacks, boards, and brute strength.  We got it held up in place with boards and jacks, and then suspended the posts into the holes and poured the concrete.

So now it’s out there next to the swing set.  And sometime in the next week or two, if all goes as planned, we’ll be adding another huge piece of playground equipment that was originally at the Embarrass town hall.  Luckily that one doesn’t require post holes or concrete, and will be brought over mostly assembled and set in place with a Bobcat.

Henry was painting a little while ago.  At one point, he painted a little dot on his nose, and then went back to painting on the paper.  I asked him why he did that.

“Me artist.”

One of our chicks has an eye problem.  I’m not sure what’s wrong with it, but it’s messed up and keeps getting crusty.  I’m applying saline solution to it a few times a day to try to keep it clean, but it’s not getting much better.  She seems fine otherwise, but we decided to get another chick just in case something happens to this one.  The new one is a black australorp, which is what we originally ordered but got the (bad eyed) gold wyandotte instead when the australorp didn’t arrive.  She’s a little smaller than the others, but she seems to be doing fine.  Delia and I cleaned out their house tonight so they’re nice and fresh now.

Harvi is back with us, and sick. She is having liver trouble, and is jaundiced. I was showing / telling Henry why she was yellowish and how the liver works and also explaining to Ryan that the vet said that her kidney and pancreas levels looked normal so it was just her liver that was malfunctioning.

Henry turned around and pointed to his lower back / side and said “Here is my kidney.” . . . Ryan said “How did you learn that?!” . . . Henry points to the other side and says “I have two.” ! ! ! Ryan says “Where did you learn that?!!?” Henry points to his spine and says “This is my bone.” I say “Where did you learn this?” Turns out he learned it from the human body toy Delia got for Christmas a few years ago. Spine, kidneys, and then to top it off he points to his head and says “This is my brain.”

Yeah, that’s some brain, kid!

A few weeks ago, I posted a flier at the vet clinic about Harvi. She is the only inside female, and we’ve tried a few times to have everyone live together but she just doesn’t fit in with all the males. They chase her around, keep her cornered in weird spots, etc. We’ve had her in one room in the basement for most of the last year, so it was time to find a better place for her.

A nice older couple picked her up this morning. They are going to spoil her rotten and I know she will enjoy it.

I am excited to move stuff around in the basement now that we don’t have a “Harvi room,” and make it even more functional.

Ryan and the kids picked up six chicks today. On the way home, Delia was holding the box of chicks and said “I want chicken for lunch today.”

Henry wants to name two of them Wubbzy – the yellow ones, even though we’ve told him they’ll grow up to be white.

We’ve got two white leghorns, two americaunas, a barred rock, and a gold laced wyndotte.