This one's for you, Eleanor

Don't care about baby chicks? Too bad. I know Eleanor does.

TiiiiiiimmmmmmBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We decided to remove another maple tree (we took out two last fall). This was a huge tree, but John and I decided to fall it ourselves. First I made a cut on the biggest branch and John went to work on it with the backhoe.Same process for the second main branch.
Then we used a dump truck and chain to finish it off...With help from Bill and Luis, we were able to have the entire mess cleaned the next day.

And the Winner Is....

My cousin Tawnya! I've been trying for five months to motivate Karen to get her own blogger ID so she could make comments on blogger. Within milliseconds of reading Tawnya's comment suggesting Karen was spoiled (see following post), Karen signed up. Thanks Tawnya!

Garden Project

So this year Karen asked me to build some raised beds for our garden. You may have seen the blackberry trellis I built. I priced out materials...and discovered that redwood or Trex would be equivalent to a couple of rifle scopes, a new shotgun, and a steelhead rod (not that I really have use for these types of items now anyway). So I headed out to the junk pile to see what I could scrounge up for free. Shelving. Lots of shelving. A little more effort, but I figured I could save some cash and reuse/recycle at the same time.So I start cutting and welding. LOTS of cutting and welding. I pass on a fly fishing trip. No time for turkey hunting. My horses stare longingly as I make trips back and forth to the junk pile to get more supplies. Spring is upon us and we need to plant now!

You may have noticed that the shelving pieces are painted. Paint burns when you weld it. I'll spare you the gory details, but I'm pretty sure I have black lung now. And lead poisoning. After weeks of cutting, welding, grinding, and coughing up lead, I have completed 2.33 raised beds (we're hoping for six total). Here are Karen and Elena posing in front of my first masterpiece. The PVC hoops will hold up the plastic or chicken-proof netting.Here is garden bed #1 installed, planted with spring crops, and ready to rock.

Sprout Goes Farming

I guess it's never too early to learn a trade. On Friday Sprout helped Grampies and Karen clean ditches. Grampies held Elena in the Baby Bjorn and drove the tractor while Karen pulled ditch tins.Later, Grampies and Sprout checked out the progress on the construction project. As you might recall, John had an addition built on his shop a few months ago, only to return home from driving truck to find that Mary and I filled it up while he was gone.According to John, he and Elena had a conversation. It went something like this: Sprout "Grampies, what are you going to do with your new building?" Grampies: "PUT A PADLOCK ON IT!"

Two Months

It's hard to believe that we have been parents for two months now. Here is Elena's two month picture with puppy.

Yesterday we mostly did stuff around the house, then Karen and Elena hung out with Bev and Zarek. Here is a picture of the two kids. I've decided that getting a good picture of one kid is difficult, but two is impossible!

A Former Life

I was sorting through our pictures from last year and came across these. Last summer Karen and I went on a pack trip into the Sawtooth Wilderness area to visit some mountain lakes. Sprout joined us on the trip, although she was still a fetus. The views were amazing, and the fishing was even better. Here are a couple of the fish we caught (I dropped the biggest one in the lake before Karen could get a picture):Here is a picture of the horse pasture next to camp:
Our horse Sam injured his leg on the way in to camp, so I had to give him some shots......and he quickly learned to avoid contact with me.Sam is okay now and friendly as ever thanks to my dad and Johanna. It was a great trip and Karen and I look forward to a few, much less-remote trips this summer.

Cowgirl Up

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the nice evening and let Sprout experience her first horse ride. I have to say that she did much better than me as a child - all I remember about my childhood rides was the screaming and crying that I did. I'm sure that will change once she gets to experience her first Darwin Lee Death March.Here I am getting Beavis ready. He is obviously unhappy that I didn't straighten his halter for the picture.

Here, Karen, Elena, and Clyde are racing down the canal bank. Clyde's untamed mane reminds me of a certain kid I know...Here's a picture of my girls on MY horse. Karen might contend that Clyde is her horse, but since she refuses to comment on the blog, I can tell the story however I want.

Babysitting 101

When I get home from work, I generally watch Elena for a couple of hours while Karen gets some stuff done and has "me" time. She is usually fussy this time of night, so I spend lots of time rocking, jiggling, and otherwise distracting her. I have learned to multi-task while I'm watching her. Here's how it goes: 1) Jiggle baby 2) Pet dog 3) Surf the internet. 4) Repeat.

Easter

I learned two things today. 1) Baby dresses button in the back. 2) Everyone else on the planet knows this but me.

Today we had Easter dinner with the family (minus the Sanchez fam). We passed Elena around the room like a hot potato for some pictures of her in her dress which Lisa (Karen's sister) wore over 30 years ago. We're making good on that recycle/reuse thing!

I'm learning that timing is everything when photographing an infant. Wait too long and you get this:Or this:Fortunately we did get some good pics. Here are my girls together:
Grampies and Oma:Grandma and Grandpa Bean (they don't have cool nicknames yet):
...And Great Grandpa:While it's unofficial, I think Sprout may have posed for more pictures than her aunt Sylvia. I guess there's a first for everything!

Blackberries

...As in the fruit, not the electronic device. I have undertaken a major garden remodel project this spring. I'm moving the raspberries and blackberries to the garden space, and building raised beds for the rest of the garden. I built a blackberry trellis in the past, but it fell down within a couple of years. So I decided to build something a little more sturdy this time. I welded it with 2.5 inch square tubing, and it's so freakin' heavy I had to use the backhoe to move it around. It is 4' wide by 12' long and 5' high. When I showed Karen my masterpiece, her only reply was, "Those actually kind of look like quail." I think that was supposed to be a compliment.

I am really proud of the quail because I cut them out myself using John's plasma cutter. Guinness was fascinated by them for a few days, so at least he thinks they resemble the real thing.

Six Weeks

Elena is six weeks old today. We've been taking a picture of her with her puppy each week for reference, so here you go. Though she was sleeping when I took the picture, she has started getting much more alert and likes watching things that move.