Yes it’s a little on the chilly side here in northern Montana. I think we did get to 32 today for a short while but it was a dull day. We saw our first snowflakes on our way to Great Falls on Wednesday & came back to some on Thursday evening. Been a few today also but nothing major - none on the ground.

We had a good trip - spent the first day going to all the thrift stores - got a few bits & some clothes for Hannah. On Thursday we hit the Antique stores. That was quite interesting with Daniel & Hannah in tow BUT they did well & nothing got broken The trailer has now got a new bottom which should last a long time.

Friday was a crazy day, catching up after 2 days away. We had found out on Thursday that Michael’s sentencing was postponed to Nov 2nd so I tried to get through to the lawyer’s office yesterday to see if I could find out any more info but no one was around. That little “stinkbag” (or I should say BIG stinkbag) Michael has still not been in touch so by this morning I was pretty stressed out as no one has heard from him since Tuesday. Now of course he may not be able to call but …..

We did find a little more info out from the guy he shares his apartment with as he had been to see him on Tuesday. Once again Michael has been mixing with the wrong people. He apparently went to a party late last Saturday night at a house of an old drinking buddy. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! Two of the conditions of his pre-sentencing parole were that he be in by 10pm & to not only NOT drink alcohol but he was/is not allowed anywhere near it so he should not have gone to that party! Alcohol is poison to Michael & I honestly believe he is going to be one of those people that will never be able to touch it even when he is legally of age. He told us way back that he knows he has to stay away from it. He has no more chances with the legal system here folks so please pray that he gets himself sorted out. Once he is sentenced & let out of jail again he will HAVE to stay clean or the consequences will be dire.

Anyways back to my stressing - I did feel better after talking with Shane but obviously would like to be talking with Michael. Richard will go see him on Tuesday & also make sure all his mail is in order etc. We are hoping to be able to give him some of his books also but not sure if that will be allowed.

I spent today cleaning the stock room - what a lovely job! It looks much better. Our first load of hay came this morning - about 9 tons! We have two more loads to come.

Because we were completely out they also had to bring this pick up load as a back stop. This got unloaded first in a wall formation so that when the main load was lifted & slid off the truck it wouldn’t all collapse into a hideous mess. We will get this first load moved into the barn before bar the “wall” so that the next load can be dumped in the same place.

Tulip is very happy to be eating Alfalfa hay again. She has a lump on one of her quarters - the one that she hurt in her escapades a few weeks ago. I was hoping it was just some left over swelling that would go down over time but it has grown in the last few days to the size of a golf ball so she will have to take a visit to the vets on Monday.

Richard has been sorting all the waterers out today. With these cold temps it was time to  put heat tape on all the faucets & heaters in the water bowls so that the animals always have water to drink. Got to clean the chimney next week so that we can get the fire running again.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend,

Liz