Sweet Sunshine & Good Neighbors...

From Jim: Boy Howdy! Two days of sunSHINE! It may not have dried up all the mud, but it brightened me up a bunch. There are critters taking naps all over the place. They are basking in the warm sun and dozing the day away. The cleanup work will start around the end of the week, when the tractor has half a chance. Probably ask Larry for a day or two of operator time. Our neighbor Don, will limber up his big backhoe and dig a SIGNIFICANT drainage around the upper barn. The dirt will be used to fill in pads for a few new horse shelters to be built this spring. We're also looking to re-route the driveway for a lot less slope and flatter ground for the gate. Don will do in a day what I would need a month for. Steve will be around when the weather gets better. He had some knee surgery and the wet ground was not what he needed while he healed up. His tracklayer will make pretty quick work of cutting the roads back to grade. We have a nice concrete pad near the front turnout. I finally have the materials to build Dr. Darling the clinic I've promised him. I'll round up Jim H. and Jess to help frame that up. Linda wants her wedding to be there, so we'll leave the siding off and she can have a covered, but open venue for her vows. Brian will be here this weekend to celebrate his and Donna's birthdays. I think they're having Brian's Samoan BBQ chicken on that day. It's a real treat with a super sacred double secret recipe only known to Samoans and those they trust. Brian's one of the latter. Since Donna and I are vegetarians, the recipe will not be sought by us. We will, of course, apologize to the resident chickens, who are also not Samoan. I expect they'll get the bones though. They are not vegetarians either. Margaret will join us. She's anxious to meet Linda's son-in-law, who is also a Brit. Margaret is a vegetarian and not Samoan. She is a Brit, however. We always send a few of our horses to Margaret's for the summer. At 85, her daughters don't want her feeding during the winter anymore. On the other hand, she can't stand to look at her empty pastures. I think she'll have Stuart and Skittles for summer camp this year. So, it's a time for some sunshine and for the friends and neighbors that have blessed the sanctuary with their kindnesses and good hearts. Man! I really needed a few days to enjoy the bright skies and warm days. Too soon, It'll be hotter than a cheap pistol and I can whine about that. But, today, well, today is just a whole lot better than OK.