Improvements

If you are wondering where all the marshmallows go ... well they are stored behind the barn. 

We have had to do some upgrades back here cause in the winter when we get all the rain it becomes a boggy muddy mess.  Only a 4x4 tractor would be able to retrieve bales in the mud.

Now with it all "fixed" it will be so much better

 

Karl has been busy digging down to the blue clay base using a friends excavator.  Our dump trucks hauled away the excess dirt to areas around the farm that needed a "lift".

We then had cement chunks hauled in from construction/demo sites and Karl lays them down as a base and puts the gravel back on top to make it smooth.
Here he is doing the last available corner of the yard.  Once the round bales behind him have been fed that area will get finished the same way then the yard will be complete.

We have a whole bunch of bales waiting to be delivered so we need to get the job done real soon.  In the meantime some bales have been stacked in other places on the farm waiting for this area to be finished.

It Smells around here!

Yes, its that honey smell again. 

The pits are full and with the grass off its a perfect time to spread.

 

Jeff is busy filling the tanker

 

 

 

Spreading on the field by the house

 

 

Those clouds look threatening but so far only a spit here and there. 

Not enough to even wet your whistle.

Marshmallows

 

Its cropping time again.  Another cut of grass but this time we didn't wait for it to dry.  In the last few days the drying time during the day is getting much shorter.  The weatherman has been calling for showers (which haven't arrived yet) so why take the chance. 

The wrapper was causing Karl a bit of grief on this farm but he managed to get it all done in good time.

 

Reidwegs field

 The next day the bales were hauled in

photo taken on our driveway

 

Jeff drove the Case tractor and two very large wagons.  The front wagon we have named Brutus. It is a modified semi trailer and holds a whole lot more weight than a regular hay wagon.

Unexpected Visitor

The other day my niece, Janelle and her 2 year old daughter Cora came up from Blaine Washington for a visit. 

We went for a walk out to see the sheep (which Cora insisted were goats!)

 

 

 

Then out to the field  to see if Tinkerbell would join us.  She got a fair bit of attention from Alpaca Zack.   Zack quite liked her and was tickling her arm with his lips.

 

We went to the barn to see the milking in progress and checked out the calves but Cora wasn't so interested and wanted to go back to see the sheep.

 

When we got back we found out a bird (barn swallow) had managed to get in the house. 

 Beth (cat) was going crazy wanting to catch it!  she was chirping louder than the bird! 

I decided to let it be... they usually get tired and then they are much easier to catch. 

I soon found the Swallow clinging to this photo of my Grandmother and her 2 sisters. 

I opened the side door, Janelle stood in the hall and I reached for the bird. 

In desperation it flew up and with a hand block from Janelle it turned and flew out the door.

 

 

 

All's well that ends well.

Alaskan Cruise

Sorry this took so long in coming... its a long one but mainly pictures :)

Introduction: 
Last February (2012) on Karl and my Anniversary I said "We should go on an Alaskan Cruise for our 25th Wedding Anniversary" But the only time these Cruises run is between April and September .... BIG time Farming time!  Karl wasn't too keen cause it is way too busy of a time and when we do chose to go away it is usually very impromptu through the summer.   So the subject was dropped.

Then... In March I received a message from my Cousin's hubby.  Zane told me he wanted to surprise Vicky with an Alaskan Cruise for their 25th...  and would we like to join them?   Um, actually he asked like this "Would Karl like to come with me on my 25th Wedding anniversary and we will bring our wives too?".   LOL
Karl gave it some thought and said OK.  But we needed the trip to be in August.  Weeelllll, that didn't work out so good... I did the math (when cropping started, when next one would be done; weather permitting; what we had on schedule and what Vicky and Zane had scheduled)   There were a few emails hopping back and forth between cousins and travel agent.. we finally settled on a date of July 18th - 26th.  Cruising upon the 18th and flying home on the 26th.

Then came the stress.  Getting everything done before we had to leave.  The weather wasn't cooperating, I had deadlines to meet (paperwork) and make sure I didn't miss any while away.  Yes we were only going for a week but its amazing what happens in one week - I don't think of it until I am not going to be here.   Had to make sure all shifts are covered while we were gone... find someone to feed house cats, dog and deal with my sheep and alpacas.  Collect mail... have emergency numbers available (they are always available but they need to be pointed out again when we go away - they tend to forget where they are even though they are posted on the wall!)
Find a ride into Vancouver to board the Ship... we needed room for 5 and right now we are dealing with pickup trucks (car died a couple of months ago).
Oh and make arrangements to be picked up at the airport! 
The day we were supposed to leave one of our employees drove in on his day off... He came to announce he had broken his collar bone (clavicle)... and he was starting a position to be one of our main milkers.  He was still able to dip and wipe and a few other one handed jobs - he just couldn't put machines on.  So it was all worked out in the end :)
Anyway, we were off like a herd of turtles on the 18th.
Do you think we will make it under this bridge? We were skeptical!

Vicky and Zane (my Dad's sisters daughter)

Karl and I as the ship was leaving the harbor in Vancouver - note the shorts... soon to turn into warmer clothing LOL

We saw BEAUTIFUL sunsets!

The food was incredible!

Dessert display - the line up was crazy! we only took pictures :)

Our plates were very creatively displayed - this is kiwi, grapefruit and drops of raspberry jam with cilantro

We did some land tours... our ports of call were Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and last stop Whittier... we then bussed it to Anchorage and flew home the next day.

Of course we had to do some gold panning... Karl and Zane

 Ok so we didn't become millionaires but it was fun none the less

Although Karl can't eat shell fish (allergy) we had a good look at some  gigantic King Crabs!

We did lots and lots and lots and lots of walking!

OH NO! oh yeeeaaaaaaah LOL

Awesome scenery!

Our Ship... Island Princess

Here in Skagway we came across some bikers from Norway.. Yep Norway! they ship their bikes over and travel all over Alaska and the Yukon then ship them back home.

On those days where we were on ship... Deck 7 was a good place to go and walk, and walk and walk, and talk... helps aid with digestion ;P

Suspension bridge... in the Yukon

What was below us on Suspension bridge

Yep we made it to the Yukon!  Albeit briefly.

One of the many glaciers we saw...

... here are some seals floating on a large chunk of ice that has calved off  of the glacier

Glacier

I thought this was a really neat cloud formation over the mountains.

A glacier "calving" see ice chunks falling off and floating in the water

My love of my life... easy to snuggle as it was chilly around the glaciers!

We celebrated Karl's birthday on board... the waiters singing "HB" ... don't ask me why Karl and Zane were wearing their sunglasses... They did a few things Vicky and I had no clue why! LOL

When we got to Anchorage we did a lot of walking around - one spot was checking out Captain Cook and his statue... while looking we found this First Nations Artist.  He carved seals while we waited and chatted... he has art in Vancouver and all over different places.  His name is Sonny Grant.  He did quick beautiful work out of soap stone here.. but he has done totems and other mediums.

Karl had this thing for Sarah Palin LOL  He is pretending to kiss her cheek. haha

We laughed when we saw this sign!

We had fun at the museum... it was HUGE.

 You bet your boots I bought muskox yarn while I was there!

Um DUH?  haha too funny!

Apparently most transportation in and out of Anchorage is by airplane - there were hundreds of little planes!

Our picture on Formal night - we don't look half bad LOL

Bye Bye Alaska... or should I say Seattle - we flew Alaska Air from Anchorage to Seattle then Seattle to home on Horizon Air.

Once we landed in Vancouver we hopped on the skytrain and headed to Surrey... in the middle of rush hour and of course a train broke down.  Katie met us at the station in Surrey to pick us up.  It took nearly 2 hours.  We could have drove home faster and I don't think it would have cost us as much.   It was $20 for skytrain -  $5 extra for each of our tickets cause we caught the skytrain at the airport! 

This post is very long...I had hundreds of pictures to chose from and it was very hard.. but I hope you got the idea of our trip and we had much fun - a well needed break - even though it was in the middle of summer :)

Working on it

I have been working on a post to do with the Alaskan Cruise Karl and I went on... bear with me as I have been having technical difficulties due to the amount of pictures I have been trying to put up!