The Pergola & Water Feature Project Continues, a Blast Listening to Lungs & Limbs, Toby's Big Day at the Vet and Prickly Pear Sorbet at the Lazy Vegan!

My DIY project of the week:  fixed a broken wheelbarrow handle with a ton of duct tape!
Another event-filled week here at the Lazy Vegan!  The pergola and water feature project continues with daily developments.  Next week the final cement pour for the bench seat on the water feature will happen, along with some fine-tuning of the pergola...and then we should be done.  We had so much fun dancing to Karina's band and finally seeing them perform - they are awesome!  Photos later in this post.  In animal news, tons of great videos this week from the critter cam...do not miss the pair of foxes checking out the camera and the brazen coyote!  And poor Mr. Toby went to the vet to have his teeth cleaned.  I was nervous about him being put under at the age of fifteen but all went well - except that the vet had to pull five of his teeth!!  I'm hoping now he'll be more comfortable with those teeth gone. Finally, the farrier came this week for the usual trimming - and the boys were both pretty well-behaved, except that Luigi gave the foreman a little bucking show beforehand!

A little dopey from painkillers after his big vet visit.

You just can't get much more relaxed then this!

The water feature still under wraps while the colored concrete "cures".

Now this is exciting (foodies, take note!):  we are finally utilizing our vast supply of prickly pears on our property - the foreman picked them and took all the very sharp needles off, and then I made prickly pear sorbet!

We have hundreds of them, ripe for the picking.

Love the color!

After scooping out the prickly pear flesh, I followed a simple recipe and added a bit of lime and some rum...

Love my Vitamix!

Strained out the seeds.

And put in the freezer!

Viola!  The texture would have been better in an ice cream maker, but this worked fine.

Bravo hanging out.

The pups love to survey the property from the main terrace.

That typical before-dinner lounging time.

The turkeys come to investigate the project!

Speaking of turkeys, the donkeys are suddenly allowing the turkeys to hang out with them.  This is really unusual.  In the past they've always chased them out of the pasture, but now I frequently see a large group of turkeys picking for grubs right next to the boys!

Flowers still blooming in the garden.

A squirrel gets a drink from the donkeys' water!

Playtime!

And rest time.

Earlier in the week, before the first cement pour.

Here comes 14 tons (literally) of gravel!

The foreman begins the big pergola staining job.

The blog reader can just scroll through these "technical" shots.

On his way to the vet!

Claire and Karina came over to cook dinner - yay!  Claire brought kale and a bunch of other produce from the farm she works at.

Toby was pretty much out of it the whole evening since he'd just had surgery.

Fresh produce!

Cute sisters!

Yummy garlic mushrooms.

With my bun-bun.

Karina yells out to the foreman that dinner's ready.

Claire also made fresh pesto - so delicious!

Going through the remainder of Grandma Julie's things.

Playing with Bravo!

Yet another wonderful meal!  Next time Grandma Snap will join us - she was busy at a meeting.

All wiped out.

Prickly pear juice, too!

I guess not everyone has a dog and a rabbit underneath their kitchen table...

More of the project...

The water feature is very involved - plumbing and electrical went in before the concrete.

The construction crew arrives early!

After the first pour of colored concrete.

Beautiful!  I'm really excited about the water feature - when finished, it will have a concrete bench on top to sit on.

The foreman was luckily able to harness up Luigi after his little bucking show!

The farrier visit!

The boys are not fans of the farrier, but they behaved very well this time.

I love how the rabbit makes herself at home in any room.

Every night she goes into our bedroom.  In fact, I've stored some of her rabbit toys and a hay buffet right in my closet for convenience!

Oh, bunny!

OMG, pond (water feature) supplies!

This is where the pump and other pond stuff will go - a door will be made to cover it.

Say goodbye to the tomatoes - these are the last from the garden!

The donkeys love to play with the chain on the gate to their new pasture!

The weekly pose!

Sunrise on my morning walk.

Karina and Nick's band!!  They are "Lungs and Limbs" and you can check out their music on their FB page at: https://www.facebook.com/lungsandlimbs?fref=ts

All four band members are very talented musicians and it was so much fun to watch them play.

Catching a nap.

View of the project from our bedroom.

And another project...a Mexican tile mural!

We had to put it together like a puzzle.  This was intended for the front terrace, but now seems too big...so stay tuned for future blog posts to see where it ends up going!

The Lazy Vegan Critter Cam Videos of the Week - WHOA!  Foxes and Coyotes Stare Down the Camera!