Dan & Ned's Weekend Project

Dan traded for this truck way back before Christmas....It needed a "little" work. Three months later we finally got it home. Dan and Ned have spent endless hours discussing their plans for their truck. Weekly phone calls to our mechanic...anticipating the big day...Well the big day finally got here last week. That means that this past weekend was the first weekend of many projects. Saturday afternoon I was a "helper". Not much time to take photos. Sunday was different, with camera in hand I chronicled the days events.


The "truck" .....


First order of business was to take the box bed off....

Many years ago Dan bought a 'box bed' that came off a truck and we used it for our feed/tack room in the barn. It was 14' long. It worked out nicely....there were no complaints...but then Dan bought a truck with a 24' box....time to expand! The area where the box set was exactly the right size! 2" bigger and it wouldn't have worked.....Taking it off was interesting! It involved a chain hoist, jacks and a lot of holding my breath hoping it didn't crash to the ground.

It's off and the chain hoist has been used to pull it into place...with only about six feet to go we must now move to Plan A. This involved using a beam placed behind the truck and pushing the box into place. Dan's driving, Ned's directing....Come on back...

Okay Ned get out of the way....

Okay, lets give her a try...


Nothing! Nada! Nil! With no weight on the back end of the truck the tires just spun in the arena dirt....

Okay, lets come up with plan B....How about putting the beam on the front bumper and pushing it?



Front bumper looks strong enough....

Let's give it a try....



It would have been simple to pull the truck outside and turn around and come back in....but Kelly missed the manuever on Saturday night when the only way to get the big truck out was to inch it forward and back with Ned on one end yelling WHOA and me on the other end yelling WHOA and Dan in the driver's seat barely paying attention to either of us. So Dan thought he would show her how he did it.....

Up and back, up and back...


15 minutes later and we're almost there....


Preparing for Plan B.....

So far, so good...




The dove that has taken up residence in our barn decided not to watch....


She was wise...now we're on to Plan C!

This involves taking tin off the back of the barn and pulling it in with the truck....

Hurry up Ned....here comes the truck.....

Got to get the truck in just the right spot....

Finish getting the tin off....



Back the truck up and hook onto the chain....

talking it over one more time....


ready for action.....





so far so good.....

hold it.....



it's pulling too much toward the wall....but we're almost there....



unimpressed bystanders.....


FINALLY!!! Right where we wanted it....


Perfect...


Good job guys...let's nap!


Gotta put the tin back on....

Just like it was....



Nap? Did somebody say nap?

Don't you just love watching other people work?

Changes...

I've been busy making some changes around the blog over the weekend....

I've added photos from my flickr photostream....

I've added a button for you to share this blog with your friends on facebook or twitter...

I've also been busy over at facebook creating a shamrockm.com fan page. The fan page took off like a shot with over a 100 fans in just a couple of days. I've added a link here to take you directly to the page. I think it's cool how the link shows some of the fans! If you're not a fan you should be. We will be offering specials and having some giveaways for fb fans only! This weeks special is for Bronc Halters! Check it out! If you're not into horses and have no need for horse equipment never fear there will be specials for you too! Stay tuned!
Another addition is that of ads. I've been approached by 'blogger' for a while now wanting me to include ads on my blog. I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not. I mean I've been reading some other blogs that also had ads and lets just say that some weren't very tasteful. I was assured the ads would be family friendly. In fact I was told they would reflect the topics that I post about.
Okay, sounds fine....
I nearly fell out laughing when the first set of ads appeared and they were all weather related! One was even for snow tires!
This will definitely make me want to broaden the content of my blog post! I'll look at it as a challenge....
If you receive this in your email I encourage you to go directly to the blog www.kaymcgee.blogspot.com and look at the new changes...
Feel free to leave comments, I'd love to hear what you think!

Zane's First Valentines Day

I do realize I'm a little late with these V-day shots.

Better late than never, right?

Enjoy!

"Winter Is For The Birds" WINNER!

I really enjoyed reading what y'all had to say about winter...some like it, some don't. Some only like it for a short time and then they are ready to move on to Spring. I think that last thought reflects how I feel too. Enough is enough already.

Today's winner is.....


Drum roooooollllllllllllll....



Lisa Perry!

Congratulations Lisa! email me for info on how to get your sweatshirt. kmcgee99@aol.com

Thanks to everyone who entered and I promise to have another giveaway soon!

Winter Is For The Birds---Giveaway!!!

I know it's been a while since we gave something away around here....I'm really not sure why....maybe I've been busy with other things. Maybe I just didn't know what I wanted to give away...maybe it was too cold... maybe I'm a slacker...never mind the reason...we're giving something away NOW!
In honor of "The Winter That Won't End", the upcoming 'blizzard' for next week, because I have an embroidery business, because today ends in "y" and because I like you I'm going to make one lucky reader the owner of a cool sweatshirt!
Check it out below...This is a photo of my "winter is for the birds" sweatshirt. I wear it often. It represents just how I feel. It's my favorite winter sweatshirt!
Winning is easy around here...just leave a comment telling me if you like winter and why OR if you don't like winter and why. If your reading this blog entry through your email you must go to the website www.kaymcgee.blogspot.com to leave a comment. You must leave your first and last name. If you have to leave a comment as 'anonymous' please make sure you leave your full name in the content.
Winner will be announced Friday, February 26, 2010.
BONUS----Tell your friends! When your friend enters the contest and mentions your name in their comment you're entered again!

Good Luck!!

Jump, Jump, Jumperoo....

Zane has finally grown into his jumperoo that his PaPa and I got him for Christmas.

He loves it!

We love watching him lovin' it!

He's quite the jumper!

He's quite the squealer!

He's quite the entertainer!

He sits in the center and goes around to all the different "stations" that have things to do and play with...plus he jumps up and down and dances...he's a good dancer too!

Pardon the drool...there's alot of that going on right now...

Enjoy!

I knew it was only a matter of time before he tried to eat it!

Vroooom, Vroooom!!

When my mommy's working in the kitchen I like to drive my jeep around.....

I'm a good driver.....



...But there are some CRAZY drivers out there...

.... A fella really has to keep a check on the traffic....



...It's good to use your mirrors...


...I like to go fast, real fast....

Uh Oh, .....Hello Officer...

I hope this doesn't ruin my good driving record....

Okay, let's back this thing up and hit the road again...

Catch ya later gator....I gotta roll.....

Eagle Hunt, Take Two

This past Sunday we once again struck out in search of the Bald Eagle.

This past Sunday we once again had NO luck in finding the Bald Eagle.

We drove 73 miles (Dan keeps up with that sort of thing). We were probably never more than 20 miles from our home the whole time. Let's just say we went the long way around. We went up on ridges, down by the river, around by the creek and sometimes we weren't sure where we were. It was enjoyable, but would have been more fun if we'd actually seen what we were looking for.

But just for the sake of taking photos I did get a few of a regular ole water bird....that's what Dan called it anyway....So Enjoy!

Okay, this is the same bird...isn't the wing span amazing?

This is him (or her) too.....