Well, I started my part time job for the summer, at a Resort close by handling reservations, I can't use the name due to the fact they have a new online policy of monitoring comments made with their name in it.

It begins with the letter R, so if you see that it means I am posting about that. I understand the policy, it helps protect them against malicious stuff by guests and employees.

There are some nice perks, like discounts on some clothing and food and also free golf...next to the wages, the biggest reason to go back. This year I plan to do more of the golfing, by doing some early morning golf when I can work it into my schedule. So far the golfing weather has been pretty cool and today very wet!

All in all pretty quiet first day back, but it will pick up as the days go by!

We received a steady rain most of the night and also this morning. So if it evers warms up the grass will grow! And the Llama's are cheering in the background!

It turned out to be a sunny day, which is a great way to start a new sales season for Wooden Nichols, and she had some sales today also!

As you can see there is lots of new stuff in these photos, and will make it fun for customers to explore the store.

The shelves are stocked as you can see.

And the birds are flocking to the door!

Hopefully shoppers will be to, good luck dear!

This morning while I was getting ready to go to work, I noticed the lake was smooth as glass, so I snapped this picture of the neighbors house on the west side of the lake. I think you could almost see the needles on the far pine trees in the reflection.
The sun was still pretty low in the sky, so you see the shadow of the house in the foreground. But it was a beautiful morning blue sky this morning.

When I got home and decided it was time to do another llama, and Pedro here was today's victim of my shears. He our youngest male and he has not been sheared before or handled much. Which turned into a llama rodeo, and he was not very cooperative to get in the shearing stall. Crystalie had to help push him while I pulled with all my weight.

Once in the shoot he behaved pretty well, as he was exhausted, later he got some energy back and when I trimmed his hooves, he was bouncing around a lot.

As you can see I had my normal audience and he is mostly white except for a brown patch on his left side which was facing me. This last picture is a little disgusting and smells worse, you can see he was spitting at me some, and he did get me some when I was getting him in the chute. It is nasty green form the grass and hay and smells pretty bad as it has a lot of his digestive juices mixed with it. Don't mean to be gross, just stating the facts!

I am glad to be done with him already as he is pretty feisty, and he is our only male who is still intact. That takes a trip to the vets office in Garrison to clip those!

Here is a look at what we worked on the last two days at Wooden Nichols.

Below is a link of the Wooden Nichols Facebook page, check out the photo album, for all of the changes and all the clean flower beds!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wooden-Nichols/54866458255#!/pages/Wooden-Nichols/54866458255

It has been a busy couple of days and we are both somewhat sore and tired, but we accomplished a lot.

Crystalie still has more work in setting things up and rearranging, and I have a few things to haul down there yet. But it will all come together by April 28th for her first day of 2011, that Wooden Nichols will be open for business!

Well, Crystalie and I spent most of the day at Wooden Nichols, on this gray and gloomy day, till we got home and then we enjoyed some sunshine this late afternoon.

At the store, I worked on the following(pictures to come tomorrow)

Replaced the two windows on the south side, with recycled windows, which had to have the frames downsized too fit the log openings.

Put in a wind block on the south end of the porch

Put up some railings on both end of the decks

Helped Crystalie wash the windows once installed.. which was a chore due to them being sticky to open.

Then I measured the trim needed for the windscreen and the newly installed windows, which will go on tomorrow.

Crystalie worked on moving things around also and our friend Marjorie stopped into say hi, and she is looking forward to having Crystalie back at the store, which will open next Thursday, the 28th.

Here is our first blooms of the season, these bright little Crocus peeked out just in the last day. They are so small and beautiful, and won't last to long..but it brings a smile to the flower gardener and and that's all that matters!

Hope you enjoyed another sign of Spring from Coffee Lake Farm!

Well this is a much nicer list than my project list...

A Birthday list for my kids and the Stanley Family who like a little help for birthday gifts at the Stanley Family May Birthday Party at Coffee Lake Farm on Memorial Day!

So here are some ideas for all of you!

Gift certificate to Grand Makwa Theater by Grand Casino Mille Lacs

Gamer V2 golf balls a type of golf ball I like to play

Twins Baseball Game Tickets --doesn't matter when I will just go...

Ruttgers Golf hat

Buffalo stuff

Re-chargable AA batteries for solar lights and camera we have a charger

Re-chargeable AAA batteries

I-tunes gift card

Gift card for Kohls

Large Solid color sweatshirts with or without any logos

Best Buy Gift card

Twins Tshirt

Load of Black Dirt (this could arrive early)

Books ---author vince flynn.. pursuit of honor---protect and defend---act of treason-- consent to kill ---executive power

Tom Clancy ---dead or alive

mini-candy bars --snickers, mounds, butterfinger

These are just ideas...it is always good to be surprised

Well, our package of Granola of the month and Cookies of the month, arrived from Ocean Shores today along with a Mothers day Gift for Crystalie and My Birthday present, just 13 days away...

We receive our Xmas present 12 months a year from our Daughter Ricki and her family, this month is Chocolate Almond Flavored Granola and my cookies are a Coconut Oatmeal and Butterscotch Chip cookie.

I took a quick picture of this along with my new Cookie Jar which belonged to my Grandma Mabel which my mom gave us this last weekend, something she had tucked in the attic and it doesn't have a rubber seal on the lid but it is still very functional and large enough to hold my 2 dozen of cookies!

Thank you Ricki!

Ps --Thank you Rebekah for the nice letter to Grandma and Grandpa.

Yes now that we are home, for the rest of the year as we don't get away much now that Wooden Nichols will be open in 10 days basically. So tonight after getting home from work, I began getting the new old windows in shape to install in the southside of the little log cabin wall.

The existing windows need replacement, and the two we have to replace them are actually in pretty good shape, I had one of the lower windows needed the glass replaced which I took to a local Ace Hardware store in Brainerd.

I then had to replace the window guides on the inside, and I cut my own wood strips and tacked them in to allow the sliding windows to slide freely. I then cleaned off the dust form storage and also have removed the hold nails that held them in place in the wall.

I hope to get them installed next Saturday, as I will be at the store most of the day doing lots of projects. Pictures will follow for that process.

This is my Mom and Dad, we didn't get a picture of them on our visit, but here is a picture of them last February at our family Christmas.

Below is a special purchase, for Crystalie, this is a gourd Joyce did and Crystalie was holding it in the picture int he previous post. Crystalie likes to collect pine cone things. As you can see it is very cool, the pine cones are carved into it and then painted, by Joyce! Her business name is Simply Gourdjoyce on Facebook, she has lots of pictures there and is working on building her business! It was good to see my Classmate and Crystalie's new kindred spirit Friend!

We took a trip to SE North Dakota, on Friday to see my folks, as they had some items they want us to pickup to bring back to Minnesota, and we have not been to the farm I grew up on for a while, the two of us, and if we didn't go before Wooden Nichols opens, it would have been next winter. We left from Brainerd late Friday afternoon, and we had the trailer in tow to haul a bunch of stuff. We were driving into snow which had fallen there last night, but we didn't hit that till we were only 50 miles form the Lisbon area. But we saw lots of fields that looked like lakes along the road.

We got to the gravel road going to my Mom and Dad's and here is what we saw, but they told us the road is open, but to stay in the middle of the road due to the high water on both sides and the shoulders on the road were soft! No kidding...There was about 4-5 inches of snow on the road along with water right up to almost the top of the road, and on the other end just a 1/2 mile from the farm, part of the road had collapsed and about 2/3 of it was still god if you didn't mind a good bump, from the dip in the road. Didn't stop for that picture...But we arrived safely, but needless to say Crystalie didn't like it!

We saw this herd of Buffalo and we stopped right on the highway, no one was coming as we were in North Dakota and it had just started to snow there, but they were walking around through the water looking for some green sprigs of grass exposed by the melting snow.

We did also arrive to some smiling faces and also some homemade chili and sandwiches, and angel food cake with fresh whip cream and strawberries, thanks Mom and Dad!

More to come!

That is right, that black head and pointy beak is a Loon, this morning when I left for work this morning they were already on the open part of the lake, haven't heard any loon calls yet, but maybe tonight!

Here is a picture looking down by golf course fairway, which the pin is out to get a new flag put on it...but you can see how nice it looks already.

Looking under the crab apple tree.

Looking towards the Coffee Lake Playground, and garden area.

This is looking towards the garden on the left with the fence and the brown spot will soon be garden number 2...this garden will be for pumpkins and squash only, as they seem to overun the rest of our normal garden, and I want to space things out more in the big garden. It of course will need a fence, maybe this is the year of the great big pumpkin!

See that open blue looking water on the far shoreline, that is open water finally! By dark the ice was about 60% gone on Coffee Lake! I got home this afternoon and went right outside to start some yard work, removing my snowplow and weights from the lawn tractor, and hooked up the mower deck, with my mulching blades on it. I began cleaning up some of the lawn with the mower deck with the blades chopping up all the leaves and dry grass, I accomplish this by mowing close to the ground, and working it in a clockwise motion so I am re-mulching my debris. I got about 2/3 of the yard done, primarily the bad spots first, and then just some general cleanup.

Okay, as I mentioned in my last Saturday entry, we had gone to Wooden Nichols and discovered the sump pump was no longer working.

So I visited Menards today in Brainerd, picked up a new sump pump, and after arriving home from work, I grabbed a few tools, and with my knee high boots on, I headed back over to the store. After about 20 minutes I had the new pump installed and I turned it on, to start pumping out the 16 inches of water in the basement.

Once I got that going I then worked on priming the actual water pump, which means putting all the drain plugs back in, and hooking up the mini water heater to the pipes, and then getting it primed. The second addition of some water to the pump and it started pumping water, into the pressure tank, and about 40 minutes later the system was full and up to pressure.

Good News! no leaks anywhere at this time, and when I left the sump pump had already dropped the level of water to about 6 inches. When I ran the hot water line in the kitchen the water was already warming up nicely.

So for now the water is going down in the basement and will be gone shortly, and the water is on, meaning Coffee can be made and the cleaning can begin, and the bathroom works! There you go dear!

That's right Coralie is the only one left in the contest and the Ice is still on Coffee Lake, so rather then wait for the ice go out, I awarded the prize to her today at the Stanley Family Birthday Party for March and April birthdays. You can see she got a nice fishing pole with lots of accessories. Congrats to Coralie --Her guess was April 11th, which is her Birthday also, so Happy Birthday to you, Coralie!

The day went by fast but with plenty of activity, up at 7:30am for coffee with my wife, and by 8:30 out the door.

Hooked up to the trailer with my truck and loaded all my chainsaw supplies and drove over to Colette's to take down one Medium size oak tree and 3 birch tree's dying, as you can see I ended up with a nice pile of wood I figure about a cord. It took 2 full trailer loads and also even a little more, I pretty much was done by 12:30 pm.

Stopped for lunch and then we both took the truck and trailer to our friend's Judy and Jim Mans, picked up a cupboard Crystalie is going to use at the store for display purposes, of course we visited with Jim and Judy for a few minutes, then off to Wooden Nichols.

We arrived and discovered the sump pump in the basement wasn't working and needs to be replaced, and the water was about 12 inches deep down there, so I was not able to start the well today. Monday, I will pickup a new sump pump and then I can work on getting the water going also.

I worked outside while Crystalie, moved some things around to make room for the cupboard. I trimmed some branches off some trees, and then we figured out a new location for the Porta Potty, this year with a path through the flower garden and around the pine tree, which will have be made with rocks and woodchips. So then we trimmed some branches on the pine tree to make it look a little better also. We assessed what other things need to be done yet this spring in the yard.

Crystalie visited with Kathy, our business neighbor, and one of her Facebook friends, they have moved into their building and plan to have a garden out back of their building.

We then left Wooden Nichols filled the truck with gas, and then visited the Garrison Thrift Store, which was about 3:30 pm, and we found a bunch of stuff, and it was our first visit in there. We hopped back into the truck and stopped by Colette's to pick up the last little bit of firewood I had left there, and Crystalie said Hi to Colette.

After we got back home almost 4:45pm, I left to get a new bale of hay for the animals, got home and unloaded it then finally on hooked from the trailer. I played with Smarkle some also, and finished putting some things away and then came in to watch the last 15 minutes of the Masters Golf broadcast.

We then sat down to enjoy a nice Supper which Crystalie made, and finally time to unwind and watch a little TV.

The weather today was overcast, but no rain yet and in the mid to high 50's all afternoon. Supposed to get rain tonight and maybe even a thunder storm. The ice on the lake is getting really dark, and if we get rain, it maybe will start to disappear.

We have seen lots of wildlife also the last two days, the deer were up in the yard yesterday morning, I saw the beaver on the ice by the beaver house, and saw an otter on the ice along our driveway, along with lots of other birds arriving. Spring is definitely here!

Friday, was somewhat uneventful, work was not to hectic and I spent the afternoon at the Brainerd Commerce and Industry, and Outdoor Expo. I was visiting with various exhibitors, and seeing who was at the show, for future ad sales for the Lake Country Journal. Real low key, and it was pretty quite in the afternoon and most people were willing to visit, sometimes it is just fun to see how others conduct themselves in a sales role.

When I got home, I worked outside around the yard, put a new chain on my chainsaw for Saturday's project list. Put some finishing touches on some little signs for Wooden Nichols, which just required some little easel pieces to them, to help them stand up on a table.

Played fetch with Smarkle, to give her daily fix of retrieving the ball!

We did watch a movie also last night while we ate our grilled pork chop dinner. The movie was "the Town" it is a really well done movie, and was even nominated for Best Picture this last year.

Well, I mentioned that my list included Shearing Llamas so we would have the raw wool for Wooden Nichols Bird Nesting Balls. So I opted to do Scooter Pavo,who is the first one to get a haircut.

Note he is tied to a pole in the little chute, on a short leash, hence he can not turn and spit at me, and the narrow chute prohibits alot of movement. Making it easy to shear off his 3 year old coat of hair.

This is before I started of course, and below is the peanut gallery taking it all in, along with my photographer, Crystalie.

Below you can see I start with shearing a swath down the back, and then work down both sides. This style is a barrell cut.

As you can see I am not, Vidal Sasson, but I remove the wool as I cut, to keep it off the ground. Llama wool has only about 10% lanolin in it by weight, so I don't even get that oily like you would shearing a sheep.

The last step is to trim his hooves, with a small nipper, designed for the task, removing off any extra hoove that is grown over his pads. This is something the llamas don't like very much, they tend to lean on you with all their weight.

Here Scooter Pavo is all trimmed up and looking pretty good! A bag full of wool, that will make some little birds, very happy and also the shopper who buys the bird nesting balls.

Here we are no worse for the wear, just about a 45 minute job all in all, and I did give him a little grain treat for being so good during his haircut!

Check Llama fence----done Crystalie and I walked it with the dogs

tonight and made some small repairs.Smooth driveway out--I did that last night

Clean yard up in certain spots--began that task but have more to do

Cut some more firewood for woodstove

Turn on water at Wooden Nichols

Assess Repairs needed at Wooden Nichols

Clean Gardens and Yard at Wooden Nichols

Build new Path to Porta Potty a Wooden Nichols

Replace 2 windows at Wooden Nichols

Switch all light bulbs to low energy bulbs at Wooden Nichols also

Begin Shearing Llamas and stock piling the wool --7 Llamas to do

Fix greenhouse door--the bottom needs a board replaced

Help clean green house

Help Clean Flower Gardens at the farm

Start cleaning up Old barn debris, and salvage as much as possible

As you can see this list is long and will have lots of small additions and May's list will have many things new things on it.

I will try to remember to mention tasks that are completed, if I am not to exhausted!