Another first

 I had this misconception that at some point in life I would stop having firsts.  So very wrong.  Last weekend we butchered our first cow!  I am so excited to see how it tastes.  The whole process really went well.  Brian and Rob came over and helped.  Bev came too and took the heart and liver with her.  She did talk Brandi into trying it and so I cooked it up and it made it into Brandi's mouth but then on to the floor for the dogs.  It smelled too gross for me to even try it.  The quarters are hung and now we wait for at least 2 weeks to let it cure and then we are going to be processing.  That will be a whole other first that will be exciting.  

What is bigger than a Surprise?

 So the last post was titled Surprise but this one might be even bigger.  I hope you are sitting down.  Last night I got the mail and was going through it and there was mail for Brandi Fleck.  I took a picture and sent it to Brandi and said what is up with this.  Now this letter is from Thrivent which was not junk mail.  She texted back I did a thing...

    what thing?

Michael and I went to the courthouse...

    For real?

Yup

    Oh my

Yup our little Brandi decided it was the only way she could be with Michael in Washington was to get hitched.  They did it before they came up here for Thanksgiving.  I guess I don't really know what date or where they did it but they went and got married and decided not to tell us.  Not sure when they thought the right time would be to tell us.  Anyway after much assuring that we still loved her we are still in shock I think.  We do wish them the best and hope it works out.

Surprise!

 Brandi came home Friday at midnight and surprised us all.  Very fun to have her home for a moment.  She left Saturday at 11:30 to go to her apartment in Duluth to get it organized and started her on the job training Monday morning (today).  So good to have her near again.  She has a boyfriend Michael so is in the AirForce and is still at Shepard Air Force Base waiting for his papers to go to the state of Washington where he will be stationed.  

In other news Kaj had his friend Rylan over for the night Saturday and it was really good for those two to see each other since everyone has been locked up with this Covid stuff.

And we got an Angora Rabbit!  He is sooooo soft and we can harvest his wool for someone to spin into yarn.  His name is Cream Puff, Theo, Thumper or Bunny depending on who is talking to him.  

Farm news:  We are trying to sell our calf,  we need to butcher one of the heifers that just isn't producing,  the fox are slowing lowering our chicken count.  The garden is shut down for the season and the new pole barn is working nicely for the hay and equipment being stored in it.  

Karli is still in Medora and actually tested positive for Covid.  Luckily she just could taste or smell anything and she said it felt like a sinus infection but was otherwise fine.  

Dad and Rebecca have finally started meeting in Duluth occasionally but otherwise she has been in the cities and he has been up here.

Dad is buying a house in town and trying to figure out if he is going to sell the house on the hill now or in the fall.  He has a nice family that would like to buy the house but he needs to figure out the details with Rebecca so we will see what happens.  Neither of them is great at making decisions.  Last time I was at his house he had a calendar action plan that he was trying to put together for the whole process.

Tomorrow night(Tuesday October 6th at 7) I am interviewing my Dad for a live stream on YouTube about how his family came to Minnesota and then how he ended up at the end of the gunflint trail.  Here is the link https://youtu.be/qOUgb4nF3pc 

I really should post more I guess there are things going on more so than I thought!

Time flies

July 27th is the first time that Kaj shaved his face!  Then he did it again on the 28th because if figured out that he had attached the razor head upside down and that was why it was so hard to shave!  He really really wants a manscape mower!  Yikes! He is going to have to buy that with his own money because they are like $70.  He is also 5'8" tall now and just over 100 pounds.  He will be doing online school this year with a real online school.  Due to COVID we just aren't sure what is going to happen with school here and he needs a routine.  And if the school here has to do online school again like last spring, it did not go well at all, we just can't go through that again.  

Brandi is doing well at tech school for the Air National Guard and she did excellent at Basic Training.  She is ready to come home though.  Trying to stay present in the moment down there is hard but she is doing really well most of the time.  

Hay season will hopefully soon be over and the pole barn will done and we will be able to enjoy the fall without major projects.  After the weekend it is always good to go back to work to get some rest.

Long time no see

It has been ages since I posted here.  Troubles logging in and laziness.  It seems to be the same daily routine for us so nothing huge has happened.  Brandi is living with us full time now and working at the bank with me.  It is really fun to work with her.  Not many parents get to actually see how their kid does in the work environment.  She is super good with customers and caught on quick to teller position.  When she is crabby she is really crabby at home but she goes to work and doesn't at all show that to the customers or other staff.  Very proud of her.  Still waiting to hear about when she goes to basic.  Her friend Cameron just finished his basic so that was fun to see pictures and he has lots of tips for her.  Most of all to start running!  Which she hasn't, but hopefully that light switch will go on for her long before she goes to basic.

Kaj is in 7th grade.  It is a struggle to get him to do well on his school work.  There are so many other things to do when he gets home.  Go snowmobiling, unload firewood, watch YouTube...He did terrible the first quarter and very good the second quarter.  We shall see how the third quarter goes. 

Currently they are all working on an engine for the truck that Brandi bought.  They are learning quite a bit.  And Skinner is having fun showing them things.  Kaj was fixing snowblowers earlier this winter and started to get the hang of what he needs to look at when going over a small engine.  Very fun.