Amazing what the wind can do with the snow, can you see where it is up the wall of my garden shed? Of course with all those drifts the driveway was impassible. I was out walking the dog and saw our neighbor at the end of the drive, next thing I know he comes plowing through. I want one of his little machines, it is a front end loader with caterpillar treads and he seems to be able to get through anything. Are you able to see how high the drifts are behind him?

I showed you pictures of the wonderful and creative purse Sherry made me. I had painted a shirt for her husband Wes. Well they sent me thanks via email and Sherry wrote about it in her blog and posted a picture of the shirt. To top all of this off Wes wrote me the nicest note with more thanks. All of this means so much to me, I tend to doubt my talents and while I enjoy painting I worry that I am not "getting" the soul of the subject. To have these wonderful people so enjoy what I have done means the world.

In my time in blog world I have been blessed with meeting some very special people. My thanks to all of you, in our world we get so overwhelmed with the bad, the evil, Mother Nature trying to wipe us off the face of her earth we tend to lose track of the good. We are surrounded with good, sometimes we need to look a little harder, try a little harder, put out there a good thing to make things better.

Jim went to Jeff and Stasia's farm and was able to salvage quite a bit of woodwork and some doors which will help to make our home a bit more homelike. Again some more nice people met in blog land, Stasia's blog is Yarn and a Barn. Hopefully they are moved into their new home and nice and snug.
They are both talented people Stasia is a fiber artist and Jeff a chef. Hopefully we will be able to spend some time with them once the weather warms up. I had to stay here while Jim drove to Wisconsin to do the work. Due to the cold we could not take the dogs with and they are too much of a handful for others to handle in this bad weather.

We are having a heat wave, up to low 30's today and the wind was not too high which is a good thing. Jim fixed the front brakes on the truck and changed one rear strut on the Pontiac, he will do the other tomorrow. So nice for him to be home, he is making lots of progress on things that have needed to be done. He is also helping me with the animals also. I have mentioned that with the cold weather water needs to be taken out to the animals. When the goats big water pail needs to be changed that takes 16 gallons, the chickens have a 2 gallon water dispenser and then there is a bowl for the cats and the birdbath. So, all in all it is a pretty heavy load even using the sled. Jim helps me pull it out there and empty and refill every one's water.

One of the goats is having a hard time with the cold this year, not quite sure why but we are doing all we can to keep her going. We put the heater in their little house with a piece of rug over part of the entrance to keep the heat in. She sleeps beside it, or stands with her head over it. We have not had any more episodes of shivering so think that is a good sign. She is eating and when we were picking up feed I also bought some electrolytes which I am giving her using a syringe. I tried to get her to drink out of a bowl, but no go remembered that I had some larger syringes and ta da got it down her. It has only been a couple of days so not sure if it is helping or not but I feel better having tried.

The chickens are doing well, we are up to 5 or 6 eggs a day so have not had to buy any eggs and have some to share. Jim said when he went out this afternoon to take care of everyone all the chickens were out. After he had finished with everyone else he went to the chicken coop and stood by the door. He said it was so funny, all he did was say "ok, time to go in" and they all lined up and went in. He said they were clucking all the way and a couple stopped and talked to him and then went on in. I wish I had a picture.

Best to you all,
Barbara

Happy New Year!!!

I wish everyone the best new year possible, may the problems from 09 vanish.

We now have a fresh start, new energy to right wrongs and start new projects.

I am hoping we can finish old projects, and put some of our plans into place. If

nothing else we will keep plugging away.

Look what the mailman brought!! Isn't it great. Sherry from Edie Marie's Attic made it for me, she does really nice work. If you would like one I can have

her contact you. She will also use material from any garment you might have that has sentimental value. You would be able to carry something from your loved one with you always or memories of a special event.

You meet the nicest people from our blogs.

I have mentioned on several occasions that a great deal of the trim in our old home was stolen before we purchased her. Now we may be able to spiff her up some. Stasia and her husband at Yarn and a Barn have built a new home and their old one is to be used as practice for the local firemen. Before that happens they are going to let us go in and salvage what we can use. I am so excited about this, with our home in not real pretty shape it is a bit depressing.

The liner and insulation for our wood stove was delivered yesterday so Jim will be busy for the next couple of days. He has to enlarge the hole in the chimney in the dining room where the stove will be hooked up. I choose to put it in the dining room as that room is larger then the front room. So the stove will heat the kitchen, dining room and front room areas. A bonus will be that the heat will also travel up the back stairs and help heat the upstairs. I read that the old homes were built to act as a chimney so the heat would travel up through the house all the way to the attic. This was a good thing in winter and summer, those old builders were so clever. This is why when I cook something you can smell it in the attic. When I run the dryer in the basement you can smell the fresh scent all through the house.

I have come up with a new crop, I will let you know when it is ripe.

Best to all, Barbara