Loren Bayer-age 26, on Ranger-age 10, and Sarah's dog, Floyd (as in PINK), at Felderhoff's Lake. Sunday, February 18, 2007.

Got up today at 4:45 a.m. and worked 8 hours at Weber (7:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.). We ran EZY all day. To keep the diaphrams from "oilcanning" at the bottom, I drilled and popped the backs first. Since this is usually Donnie's job, he took over drilling/popping the right sides of the headpans for me. That meant I didn't have to mess with any SSPQ (steel) rivets, alleluia! Working in the Cell, in order, was: Doug, Jeff, Me, Valerie, Donnie, Vickie, and Marina. George worked with Doug. Butch and Angela worked off-line. And Jennifer was absent. Lucian was back from his week's vacation.

At one point, I was unwrapping a piece of Easter candy when I looked up and saw Vickie watching me from across the Cell. "Janette", she said, "Is Lent over already?" What could I say??!! Except that it was probably a mistake to give up: smoking, drinking, cussing, sodas AND sweets all at the same time. HEH!

Lucky is pawing at the water but Apache is crossing like a gentleman. Loren-age 26, and Sarah-age 25, riding across the north end of Schaefen Lake. Picture taken by Janette-age 48, on Ranger-age 11. Sunday, March 18, 2007.

Last Friday evening, Sarah and I went out to the 'pits to shoot my 22/45 Ruger Mark III pistol. Even though I've owned this gun since last August 11, 2006, Sarah had never shot it. We took some cans of skunk-beer that Bob dug out of a dumpster, and set them up on the hillside. Sarah alternated sitting on a burned tree stump and standing to shoot, and she did very well either way. Most cans blew apart with an explosion of brew, but one looked like a man taking a leak, sending a streaming arc high in the air that finally ran down to nothing...we both laughed at that one! HEH!

Then, Sarah asked me if I'd ever shot it rapid-fire. (The clip holds 10 rounds). I said I had, but that I didn't hit very much that way. Well, she climbed up on the flat bed of my 1-ton, and she got in a prone position, and she proceeded to fire away. I think there was only one can left standing at this point, the one that had streamed out. As she shot, it never moved, and we thought maybe she had missed...but, upon inspection, it had three holes blown through it! Not bad shooting for a first time to handle a particular firearm, and with no scope, either.

Sarah is standing on the back of my 1-ton (1990 Chevy Silverado), about to slide onto the Paint (Apache), and Loren is behind Lucky, tightening his cinch, I think. We were just getting started on our ride. That's Norma Jean and Denis's house in the background, across the highway (FM 2739). Sunday, March 18, 2007.

Happy birthday today (Tuesday, March 20th) to my nephew, Andrew. He is 20 years old. One more year 'till the big bonfire/keg party, right 'Drew??!! I'm ready!

Today we worked 5:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (10 hours). We ran easy backs--XIA, I think. My cough is slowly going away, and I'm not as hoarse this evening as I was this morning. Instead of having an elephant sitting on my chest, there's now only a big dog, like my Big B., sitting there. It will be two weeks ago on Thursday since I shook out that extremely dusty prairie hay, while my head was inside the new DOGLOO doghouse, and I breathed in all that dust and bits of hay. That was a really stupid thing to do! (I wonder how much Big B. weighs?? 40, 50 pounds??).

Loren (on Lucky) and Sarah (on Apache) taken by Janette (on Ranger). Riding on Bayer's, a.k.a. the Schaefen (however it's spelled!), on Sunday afternoon, March 18, 2007. It was Sarah's first time and my and Loren's second time to ride this place. We rode the perimeter (fenceline) of the two pastures, staying out of the wheat fields, which were up about 6 inches, I'd guess. We rode about three hours, so this tells you how big at least one of the pastures was. What a great day! The wind was a little strong, but that just kept the horses from getting too hot, as they are still not finished shedding out their winter coats. The trees are fit to burst with fat buds on them, and the Redbud trees were a riot of bright (dark) and light pinks and purples. The Dogwoods are still blooming, though many were about finished. Too bad I didn't get some shots of those gorgeous colors! I'm usually too busy drinking it all in with my eyes to bother fiddling with the camera. I'm not too swift with the Digital yet, anyway, plus my leather gloves made trying rather clumsy. Ranger was a good boy and I like the way he's handling with the different bit. He turned 10 years old on March 9th, and we'd been riding him all those years with an o-ring snaffle. When I took his bridle to the saddleshop for some repairs, we were forced to use a different rig. We used a bridle with a Tom Thumb bit, which is a curb bit, even though it has a jointed mouthpiece. It's the fact that it has shanks that makes it a curb bit. We WERE using this bridle on Lucky, but he hated it, so now we're just riding him with a halter. Sarah wants to get a Sidepull for him, which I think is a great idea. Such rambling! Must be bedtime.