Deck The Halls
We're starting to go into a bit of a cold snap. Yesterday when I was bidding the Barn animals good morning I was admiring the frost painting on Boose's window.
Now don't worry she's plenty warm. That's a folded up electric blanket that she sleeps on. It keeps her butt warm and toasty. It's good to have her in the Barn. Haven't seen a spec of mouse crap around since she declared it her territory. Despite lot's of feed scattered around the place.
We got a couple of more loads of wood yesterday while the sun was shining. And our nose hairs weren't frozen. This was a bug killed pine that was very branchy. When I cut it down it lay eight feet off the ground on the branches and that took some cutting to bring it safely down to the ground. We had to cut the tree into half so that Jo-Ann could skid them out to the path side to facilitate cutting them up. The stump is always the heaviest part of the tree and I was dragging parts of my anatomy as well as the stump up a hundred feet of slope and down the road to the truck.
I cut trees like an amateur. I cut the tree a comfortable three feet off the ground and then cut off the stump that remains. Real loggers that are falling for lumber would never waste the stump and will cut it as close to the ground as they can. Us firewood guys have it easier. And the best part is we get to hold hands with our Sweetie Pies in the truck- with the heater going full blast- to keep their little fingers from getting frost bitten.
One of the loads was about all the truck would carry. We're just about loaded for Winter. But as I've mentioned before, last year the only month we didn't have a fire burning was July. And that was probably because I was to lazy to light one! You can see the blue rings on the rounds that were cause by the Pine Beetle. Or more correctly the blue stain fungi that the pine beetle carries.
We're still eating tomatoes from the Green house and watching a crop of lettuce, chinese cabbage and various herbs grow. We're trying a bit of Stevia to see if we can have a bit of natural sweetener. And this summer we may even venture into the bee keeping side of sweetness. Several local farmers do a brisk apiary business. I just need enough to keep me sweet all year. That can't be such a daunting task can it?
It's that time of year again. I know it's a silly , power wasteful tradition, but I like it and it brings out the six year old in this sixty year old. I love brightening up the dark of winter with Christmas lights.
I had a bunch of strings of 7 watt Christmas Lights that I bought at a friends place a few years ago and was storing in the barn. We dragged them into the light repair area ( the kitchen) Jo-Ann untangled them and I chased down shorts and broken and burnt out lamps. A warm kitchen and several cups of tea make the chore a lot more civilized. And far toastier..
Hope your keeping toasty. Maybe try some raisin toast dipped in farm fresh beaten eggs..but that's another post.
Now don't worry she's plenty warm. That's a folded up electric blanket that she sleeps on. It keeps her butt warm and toasty. It's good to have her in the Barn. Haven't seen a spec of mouse crap around since she declared it her territory. Despite lot's of feed scattered around the place.
We got a couple of more loads of wood yesterday while the sun was shining. And our nose hairs weren't frozen. This was a bug killed pine that was very branchy. When I cut it down it lay eight feet off the ground on the branches and that took some cutting to bring it safely down to the ground. We had to cut the tree into half so that Jo-Ann could skid them out to the path side to facilitate cutting them up. The stump is always the heaviest part of the tree and I was dragging parts of my anatomy as well as the stump up a hundred feet of slope and down the road to the truck.
One of the loads was about all the truck would carry. We're just about loaded for Winter. But as I've mentioned before, last year the only month we didn't have a fire burning was July. And that was probably because I was to lazy to light one! You can see the blue rings on the rounds that were cause by the Pine Beetle. Or more correctly the blue stain fungi that the pine beetle carries.
We're still eating tomatoes from the Green house and watching a crop of lettuce, chinese cabbage and various herbs grow. We're trying a bit of Stevia to see if we can have a bit of natural sweetener. And this summer we may even venture into the bee keeping side of sweetness. Several local farmers do a brisk apiary business. I just need enough to keep me sweet all year. That can't be such a daunting task can it?
It's that time of year again. I know it's a silly , power wasteful tradition, but I like it and it brings out the six year old in this sixty year old. I love brightening up the dark of winter with Christmas lights.
I had a bunch of strings of 7 watt Christmas Lights that I bought at a friends place a few years ago and was storing in the barn. We dragged them into the light repair area ( the kitchen) Jo-Ann untangled them and I chased down shorts and broken and burnt out lamps. A warm kitchen and several cups of tea make the chore a lot more civilized. And far toastier..
Hope your keeping toasty. Maybe try some raisin toast dipped in farm fresh beaten eggs..but that's another post.
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