Monday, May 04, 2009

driving a skidsteer is FUN

I guess I had to post this after all the hints that Art was dropping on his blog. We had the loan of his brother Tom's skidsteer, so decided to haul a few loads of gravel from up the hill and put it on the driveway. I had my choice .... drive Betsy Ford (which is a standard, and I DON'T like to drive standard) .... or drive the skidsteer. EEK! I'd rather walk. We did a trial run with Betsy. Art put it in 2nd gear of "bull-low" and it was no big deal to drive, really. No shifting involved. Then I got brave and thought the skidsteer might be less intimidating. Once I was in it I was scared poopless, though. Did ya know those things don't have BRAKES?! ...... (of course, I found out later, that's because they don't need them)Well, after I'd asked Art 100 times exactly how to STOP and then practiced for a little while, I actually began to have fun.Then the only thing that got me out of it was the sun going down."See Mom, we told you it would be fun!"

Speaking of the sun going down ... a couple of days ago someone was doing a lot of slash burning to the west of us. A LOT. There was no breeze to blow the smoke away, so it just hung in the air. Made for a pretty spectacular sunset over our tire garden.And speaking of fire .... now that it's warming up a little we ALMOST don't need to light our woodstove as often. Pretty soon we'll be putting these away.We've been going for daily walks with the dogs. It's a nice way to start the day and Xena and Cleo love it. Have you ever seen a 100 pound dog bounce like a pogo-stick? It's pretty funny.Xena has been showing Cleo where all the best mouse holes are.She rather enjoys trying to get them to come out.I'd much prefer she chomp those than these.We took Cleo to the vet yesterday for her first checkup with her new "doc". It went pretty well until she tried to chomp the vet. That didn't win her any brownie points. It scared the poor woman, and us too. I guess more care will be required on future visits. We did ask about the whole "rock carrying" thing she does and were told that it's definitely a Rottweiler quirk but we should discourage it as her teeth are starting to show wear and dental repairs on a Rottie are extremely expensive (Art thinks the vet just doesn't want to get close to the jaws of death again).

I almost came home with another cat from the vet. There was an absolutely ADORABLE little guy hanging out in the office and I just fell in love with him. He is about 6 months old, all white (just like Ewie) and just kept cuddling me. And he had a sassiness that made me smile. I really wanted to bring him home. And guess what his name is .... Huey! Yup, it would be Ewie and Huey. Too cute! But, alas, I didn't bring him home. Three house cats is probably enough .... right? .... right?

Besides, look what I already have to contend with.He has figured out where I keep the stash of catnip and if I forget to close that cupboard door, Ewie actually goes and gets it. Finally, I sprinkled some on the carpet for him.Oh ya, here's one last pic of all of us crammed into the cab of Betsy Ford. The dogs were getting quite the workout following us up and down the hill about 8 times, so we decided to give them a ride. This picture definitely looks like there's more room than there actually was. I was hanging out the window trying to get pictures.

7 comments:

Denise E said...

Cleo looks like she has settled into the family.
I enjoy reading your blog and your pictures are a nice addition to your stories.

Unknown said...

It looks like you had some good fun!

Viki said...

Oh yeah, vets make good chewing material. We have one in Kamloops never needed to muzzle her no matter what he did. He played with her first. She loves him, but not the other ones.

Carol Browne said...

Those big machines don't have breaks? YIKES!

And I love Ewie - I can just see Oscar doing that kind of thing. I hope he doesn't figure it out.

Your farm family is getting gigantic. It looks like fun.

Chickie said...

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Endako Jo said...

that darned Chickie..... sitting on the keyboard again!

Way Out Wear said...

Great post - and I love your photos - especially the one of the axes and the one of the dog butts! You have a silly kittie (or else a junkie for catnip!)
Good for you for trying the skidsteer, I don't know if I'd try it. wowza!