Happy Birthday, Bella!

Two years ago today, Boulderneigh's very first lambs arrived. Bella's twin Bailey succumbed to a very fast pneumonia three weeks later; Bella stayed here and grew up to look much like her mother Rechel. (Bella is STILL available, by the way!)

Although I never saw Braveheart cover Rechel, I had hopes that she would once again lamb in mid-March, since more experienced shepherds have told me that, given the opportunity, each ewe tends lamb around the same time each year. I DO think she will lamb, I just don't know when. Want to venture a guess on her and the other two, who I DID see covered? You have until tomorrow midnight to enter my little contest (who, what and when); the person whose guess is closest to reality will get a set of photo notecards with their choice of subject (if you don't write notes, I'd be happy to send you an 8 1/2"x11" print of your choice).

Here are the ladies in waiting this morning at breakfast:
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A lovely walk and fancy pants

Even though all creation groans under the burden of sin (thanks to us humans) as we wait eagerly for our redemption (see Romans 8:22 & 23), there is still amazing beauty to be seen in things around us great and small. We enjoyed the above and more on a walk today during a break in the rain. Surely heaven, where sin and its effects shall be erased, will overwhelm our senses!

When we got back from our walk, there was a package waiting for Brian. He has been not-so-patiently waiting for this day for a long time, at least since last summer. On one of our horse-camping trips, another little boy brought his chaps and let Brian wear them. Some time after that Brian discovered the chaps Rick's mom had made for Rick when HE was a little boy. When Grandma came for Christmas, Brian finally got to try on those old, fragile chaps:
The campaign was on. Brian started begging his grandma to make HIM a pair of chaps. Rick pulled out the leather left over from chaps he made me way back in vet school (a considerable amount, because he initially cut out two left legs!), Phyllis actually found the pattern she had used for Rick's chaps, and Brian's dream became a project.

The result? A pair of "fancy pants" all Brian's own!
Here we are, modeling our chaps together.
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Dog in a box

Thanks to Garrett, who shares his home with a whole pack of dogs, I was finally prodded into action, resolving the problem of Destructo-Dog with the only immediate solution possible. I hauled out our 25-year-old Doberman-sized crate, last used to transport Bobby to his new home, and thoroughly scrubbed it down. Now Jackson and his gnawing teeth can be safely and relatively comfortably contained at night and when we are gone. I feel so much better about his future!

I just had to include another photo of the bromeliad, this one taken without flash. The purple side-flowers are even bigger now, and Brian and I admire it often.

That's it for now at . . .

The good, the bad and the ugly (indoor edition)

The good. Even though it's grey and soggy outside at the moment, this beauty is livening up our dining room table. It's a Tillandsia bromeliad, a thank-you gift from a friend. The colors are actually more intense in person; it's a fascinating plant!

The bad. Jackson the Destroyer has been at it again. In the past he nibbled a bit at the doorway trim leading out of the laundry room into the rest of the house (above); nothing bad, a bit of paint will fix it up. But when I came home yesterday afternoon, I saw this:That's the doorway leading into the garage from the laundry room; I guess Jackson wanted to go with us when Brian and I left for the homeschooling co-op! Rick took it better than I thought he would, but I'm worried Jackson could lose his house privileges over this.

The ugly. If Jackson does get banished, at least these would get banished, too:Those are the dust bunnies under my baking rack. When gathered up in a clump, they make a rather impressive dust-rodent. I definitely need to vacuum more often now that we have a fluffy pup as an indoor pet. Somehow, spinning this stuff just isn't appealing!
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