July 1st. A very special day indeed.

5 years ago today Peter showed up on my doorstep after an extended absence in my life.  5 years ago today our lives together began for real.  Ahhhhhhh.....

Things are bustling around this little house on the ditch.  Cadbury and Chupa are settling in nicely.  We've managed to build a temporary, but crude, shelter in the pasture to provide them with shade and shelter from the rain.  I've almost got Cadbury coming to me when it's time to go to the barn for the night.  Up until yesterday we had to have a mini alpaca rodeo every night.  Last night I managed to corner Cadbury and put her on her lead without any drama at all.  Of course, once Cadbury is leashed, Chupa is easy.

The arrival of the alpacas has re-shuffled priorities around here too.  We've had construction debris clogging up the barn.  That's space we need!  The debris was the old roof tear off from two houses, all the carpeting, linoleum, wallpaper, ceiling texture and other junk our remodeling has created.  We had to rent a trailer and for two days we schlepped back and forth to the local dump.  All in all we removed over 5 tons (yes.. 5 TONS - I tracked it).

I think everyone should be made to hang out at the dump for a few days.  The offensive amount of waste this country creates is disgusting.  I have this theory that many many people toss the trash in the garbage and watch it get carried away by the big truck and don't think of it again.  Trash doesn't just go away.  It has to go somewhere.  In the case of Bellingham it all get's carted to Eastern Oregon to a big landfill.  Around the farm we recycle, compost, re-use, and create very little waste (except for the construction...).  I have lot's more to say on THAT topic - but I'll get off my soapbox for now.  Fair warning though, it may come up again later.

My dear big brother and his lovely wife are coming for a visit.   They'll be here in 4 days.  I've known of their coming visit for months but I have procrastinated in getting a room ready for them.  Just as a reminder.. this is what the room looked like a few months ago and little had changed in there by last week:

As of last night, this is how the room looks:

The floor is still horrible linoleum, the ceiling still has texture, the walls need paint but the room is clean, empty of clutter and, I hope, welcoming.  After their visit I will strip the ceiling (eek - more construction debris!!), paint and do the floors - eventually.  I'm sure I'll have to go play with the alpacas first.