After All These Years

Thanks to John for donating this early 1900's stove, and Dave's ingenuity for making it work!

The Great and Powerful Oz has spoken...."Bring on the soup, and bake me some bread!"

Here We Go Again

Time for the engine to come back out of Hercules, the Ford 555.

He may be smiling now, but let's see if the grin remains as the project progresses!

If all goes well, perhaps the Bayliner will be next?

Only time will tell. The summer up here seems way too short.

Another Day...

....another tractor!

If we waited much longer, we would need a sickle bar and hay rake to mow the dandelion field in Ticonderoga.

Just when I thought spring has sprung, I'm back in winter trim. My face reflects how happy I am. Ha!

Oh well, the grass waits for no one, as do the rest of our projects, so it's time to carry on. By the end of the summer, maybe I will have all the controls on the machines figured out!

"You Are What You Play"

DIRTBALL! That's our new game invention, that you can play by hand or by foot. By hand is more exercise (my back is sore today. HA!), but by foot requires more concentration, coordination, two wheels and a motor.

Both ways are a blast and added more diversion to our already fun trail rides.

Next we're going to work on putting on a motorcycle rodeo. Stay tuned!

The Fog

We took a trip north to Ticonderoga to check on the house and try to mow the lawn, which is now a hay field. Unfortunately it rained, so mowing was out of the question. Then the fog rolled in, giving Lake George an eery quiet that was quite beautiful.

This the view from the Hague Town Beach. Lake George is looming in the fog.

The Ti house was fine and the cellar dry, but the whole place was really cold from still being winterized with no heat. That meant it was time to continue our road trip, so we headed to the newly completed Crown Point bridge over southern Lake Champlain.

It was great travelling over the bridge that we watched being built, especially the huge center span.

We completed our loop through Vermont and Whitehall, ending up back at the Northway. What a perfect day for a full circle tour.

Back to Being a Ranch Hand

It's finally warm enough to get out and rake the leaves left over from last fall. That's not saying much, because it's only 50 degrees, but bright sunshine, and it made me work even harder.

This is my favorite part...loading the leaves in the bucket of the New Holland, and taking them into the woods to dump them. Hey, that's where they came from to start with!

I have to admit that it takes me awhile to remember how to drive the New Holland, since I drive several different tractors around the two properties. Each of them are set up different. Oh well, I have all summer to get it right!

All Together Now

I was wrong in my last post saying that we were only 3 hours from being home. Actually, the trip from Orlando to Albany only took 2 1/2 hours. Talk about a quantum leap! It all went smoothly, thanks to the Sky Caps and porters. With Mom being in a wheelchair, we got to board the plane first, pick our seats in the front, and then get off the plane first. Cindy, the 5 lb. Maltese, behaved exceptionaly well, and slept (without medication) the whole trip. She had only been in her carrier once or twice as a trial, so we were happy she adapted...something she doesn't do very well.

Reality hit hard when Dave picked us up and we walked out the airport door. It was 40 degrees out....BRRRRR! The next several days are predicted to be even colder, so we all need to get used this weather and adapt. I was really hoping that if we waited until the end of April, the weather would be better for Mom. Gee, we should have gone with Dave since he had 80+ degree weather when he arrived. Oh well, we'll just keep pushing the themostat in the house higher and higher.

It's good to be home again though, and fun to get everything reorganized. At least the leaves are starting to come out on the trees and the flowering bushes are beginning to bloom also. Soon my yard will hopefully look like this again.