Some more snow pictures

For my friends in the South you will enjoy these and be able to gloat as you go around in your shorts and flip flops. For my Northern friends you can sympathize as we continue to dig out. The weekend is supposed to bring sub-zero temperatures, Jim will be working on the few places left in the attic that need insulation. Now that he is home full time for a while he can tackle many of the jobs he could not get to before. I look forward to being able to paint and paper in several rooms by the Spring, yeah!! The picture shows him doing some clearing in the driveway. We had just had it plowed and then more snow arrived and along with the wind tried to fill it all in again. Charlie was helping Jim, we call him rocket man because he is so fast and just loves to run. We try to let him get at least one good run a day in, uses some of that energy and keeps him in shape. This is one happy puppy, see him smile!!

I took the picture of the bluejay the other day, I was looking out the window and he looked so pretty. This was the morning we woke up to a Winter Wonderland, everything was frosted

I love looking at the trees and bushes when this happens, looks beautiful and so quiet all you hear are the birds.

I wish everyone peace and tranquility, health and happiness in the new year. Happy New Year my friends, Barbara

Sunny Saturday

We only put up a small tree this year, but I thought it looked very happy. I covered it with all manner of light, some twinkle and some not so it is very bright. Have a great weekend and enjoy all your new Christmas loot. What a difference a day makes, woke this morning to a beautiful clear day. Still very cold, but pretty. You can see from the windows on the garage how the wind blew the snow around, the windows on the house are coated also on the East side.

The drive way was not as bad as we feared so Jim has gone to the "big" city to

pick up a few things. Made Charlie's day he loves to ride in the car more then most anything else.

I thought the trees looked so pretty with all the snow stuck on them. Molly had a great time running all over the place, she would still be out their if I had not gotten cold. The new boots I bought for the barn only have a light lining so cannot be in the snow for too long. To give you an idea as to the height of the drifts, behind Molly is one of our Pathfinders that Jim is going to work on. It is pretty much buried.

Best to you, Barbara

Merry Christmas

Sending warm wishes for a wonderful Christmas day your way. All best wishes for a loving, prosperous New Year.

As the song says, The weather outside is frightful so I am glad we have no need to travel anywhere. Looks like it will be Monday or Tuesday before we will venture out.

We have had major amounts of snow, then sleet, snow, rain and now back to snow. I took these pictures this afternoon there were big fluffy snow flakes but could not really catch them. Pretty much of the day has been white out conditions with the snow and wind. With the rain the snow is very heavy so I made sure Jim only shoveled a small path for me to get through with my sled. With the onset of cold weather I now take 5 gallon buckets of hot water out to the animals twice a day. We purchased a new 16 gallon heated bucket for the goats, the two 5 gallon ones we had were just not enough. The chickens have their own heated water dispenser, so there is 3 gallons for them every couple of days and the cats have a heated water dish also. I am so pleased that our panels across the bottom of the door are working so well.

The chickens are now giving us 3 and 5 eggs a day. They are so funny, now stand by their door to be let out to play with the goats. They keep all the grain that the goats miss cleaned up. When you go out there the chickens are just clucking away, sound very peaceful.

Our day was quiet spent playing on the computer, eating and reading. I bought Jim a game for the Wii so that has kept him occupied. When he gets fed up with that then he is back to channel surfing. A none stressful day all around, even the dogs did not want to go out much.

Tomorrow if I can summon the energy I want to do some baking. I am practicing my cookie decorating, practice makes perfect. The big plus is we get to eat my mistakes,lol.

My big holiday fun will be going to the sales, I enjoy buying all kinds of pretty wrapping paper, bows, ribbons for half price. Will be heading to Hallmark to see what there is in the way of decorations, then will hope to find a new Department 56 piece to add to my collection. Jim always feels he should buy me something, but since I have so much I truly enjoy hitting the sales. Last year I bought some of the extra large ornaments for the outside tree. I am hoping next year we will be more organized and can decorate it, it has such a beautiful shape I think it will look beautiful.

Enjoy your holiday and being with friends and family.

Best to you, Barbara

Chickens on my head and goats on my toes!!!

There is never a dull moment with all the critters around, makes my days fun.
A couple of the chickens who are extra friendly have decided that not only will they ride the goats but humans are fair game also. Jim and I were standing in the coop discussing possible modifications when a chicken launched itself and landed on my head. We could not stop laughing and all the while the chicken is just clucking away.

Anything you are trying to do in the animal shed, the goats have to be part of. They are so curious, they want to stick their noses in, taste, in general get completely under foot. Of course my toes take a beating as they always seem to manage to tromp on me at some point.

Jim made a small trap door for the chickens to get in and out of the coop. I had just been opening the door a little bit and securing it with bungee cords. Welllll, the goats figured out how to get the bungees off and promptly ate the chicken feed, again!!!! Jim thought he had it all figured out, came in to get me to show me what he had done. We go out and look in the coop, no chickens in sight......... but guess who?? 7 of the goats were in there, shoo them out try and figure out how they got in. As we are standing there Milky Way gets down on her hands and knees and crawls through the door!!! So, back to the drawing board , Jim has to make the opening smaller. As you can see he had lots of supervision.

When you look at the size of the opening it is amazing to me that the goats could make it through, if I had not watched it happen I would never have believed it.

I found a surprise the other day, eggs!! Now I am finding one or two a day, good chickens!! The are getting so big and for the most part very tame.

I think this chicken is so pretty, still do not know what kind she is,lol.

This is my other mystery chicken, pretty isn't she?? Just do not know what kind. The one in the back is a Silver Laced Wyandotte, it is a real wacky chicken. Runs all around at top speed.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, ours was quiet. Jim was home from Wednesday night till Monday morning so we had some nice together time. I cooked ham and turkey so we had leftovers which I tend to enjoy more then the actual meal. Love turkey sandwiches with all the trimmings on them.

Best to all, Barbara