The Ponderosa and Pete the Cat

The previous owners called this place The Ponderosa because of the magnificent ponderoasa pines surrounding the house.  I think we'll continue with the tradition.  The biggest trees are in the back, but the front trees are pretty impressive even after Mark took down two giant trees and some massive bushes.  You can see the logs from one tree in the picture above waiting to be relocated to the firewood pile.

Our house produces some pretty cool icicles, making the winter view out the windows very cool.

This was a beautiful sunrise that I woke up to through the master bedroom doors.

This was a sunset from the front yard.  The boys thought it was a fire in the sky.

The work continues here outside.  Mark just finished rehanging the gate to the backyard and installing an automatic gate opener and lock.

Mark has also done lots of tree clearing.  His goal is to rid the entire property of the nasty Russian Olive trees.  We have done several cleanups of the sticks and rocks from the field.  One day Timmy pulled a little toy wagon around the field all by himself and filled it with sticks and rocks and then dumped them in the dumpster,  I love that he wanted to work on his own accord.  That is him way out there cleaning the field.

It hasn't been all work outside.  We love that we live at the end of a circle.  The kids enjoy riding their bikes out on the street.  This is not something we could do at the old house.

When we bought this house we inherited a barn cat that came with the barn.  We have named him Pete.  He is a nice looking all black cat that showed up as a kitten and has been here for a few years.  At first he would run away the second he saw us and we wondered if he would ever be friendly.  After a little bit of patience from the boys and good food daily from them, Pete was friendly within about two weeks.  He loves us all now and enjoys being petted.  He sleeps and eats in the barn and spends his days roaming the place and we hope he's catching mice.  However, the only proof of his hunting abilities has come from the remains of little birdies rather than mice.

Brian and Timmy have been diligent about feeding him daily.  They trade off feeding him each week.  They are even putting on head lamps and feeding him on their own after dark if they didn't get it done before the sun went down.  I love the responsibility in gives them to take care of Pete and good training for future animals and pets.