Frosty Morning

I had to do two post today to break my record of 10 posts for the month. To some of you that isn't much but for me am excited. I am going to try and reach 50 posts for the year! I am getting closer.

My two favorite things, our barn and the carriage. I can't wait to get lots of family pictures this summer in both.


We went out this morning to take some beautiful shots of the snow.




True love

Everywhere we go, our animals follow. They just love spending time with us. London has taught Brigham to sit on her and cuddle. If he keeps getting bigger, London will get squished. He loves playing in the snow.

The snow really shows how much wild life we have in our yard. It is exciting to see all the bunny and deer tracks. They really love our bushes.

Beautiful frost covered trees

Don't be fooled by his darling face! He is a rotten boy. He is constantly biting the cats, not a nibble either. You hear us yelling at him all day from inside to let go of the kitty. He thinks they are his live chew toy that squeeks. I don't think he means it. I don't know if it is something about his breed, but he bites everything right behind the head. Unfortunately, even Blossom. Once she has been out awhile he settles down but when we put her out to go to the bathroom we have to supervise so he doesn't hurt her. He is so big and clumsy. Look at his face and you can't stay mad for long!

I love my tractor. This is just for decoration. In the spring, I want it surrounded with red poppies. Won't that be beautiful with some flowers on the seat as well.

London was home from school today as she doesn't feel well, but she wanted to come for a little picture walk for me. Notice the hat. I finally figured out an awesome pattern and I have been making them like crazy. The flower and the band are interchangable.

The rest of the family. They are such good animals. Our cat is a hussy and pregnant again. Her others aren't even grown yet. I guess we have to get her fixed. As soon as we do she will die. It seems to be a law around here. Anyone want kitties in two months or so?

Hoar frost is amazing! When I was a kid I thought it was a bad word...whore frost. hee hee

It is so nice to see how much Brigham loves London. He knows that is his mommy and he loves her so much. He was so excited that we came out to play with him.

Blossom tried to join in the fun, but it was way too deep for her. When I looked back, there she was, stuck holding her paws up, letting me know she is way too cold. Poor girl! I need to knit her some little booties.

Trying for some amazing shots. I fell short. I need to take a photography class to learn how to get those amazing shots

Shadows and more tracks

This is right out of our deck door from our bedroom. The trees are just full of frost dripping down. So beautiful.

More puppy love and nibbles

It's getting closer!

Aren't they pretty? Here are dad's septic tank and Cistern. I love the color. He has been working since Friday and should be done by December 2. Dad's house will be finished Dec 2 and moved on about the 6th.

This is the finished Cistern. It is all ready to go!

moving the septic tank in. We are lucky for the snow. It hasn't let the ground freeze so they will be able to do the whole septic field.

This is the hole for the septic tank.

We are so excited for dad to move. He should be moved in on Dec 11. I hope all goes well. He is all packed up and ready to go!

My Newest Hobbie

Last Saturday they had a craft fair at the Cultural Centre and we were able to go around and see the different clubs. It was so awesome to see all the different talents people had. I decided to join up with the fibre arts group. I have always wanted to try to weave. They had so many beautiful projects done. So I joined right away and started learning how to thread a loom and I am on my first project. It is going to be a scarf. We have access to the building 24 hours a day all year long and they have so many goodies I want to try. They have a carding machine where you can card your own wool and a spinning wheel, and places to dye fibre. I am going to learn how to felt and all sorts of goodies.

I have a mentor named Peggy Moore who is in our ward and is kind enough to help me out. It gets me out of the house every now and again. In the winter time I become such a hermit. Which is a good thing most days if you look at my previous post on my driving skills. I look forward to learning new things and making some new friends.

The red part will be picked out afterwards this is just to get the tension right. It will be done on Tuesday so I will show the finished project then!

Honey....I can explain!

Winter...who likes it? Well, the weather has been really cold and very snowy. So snowy that Sean didn't want me driving as our roads haven't been cleared. Well, that was fine for a couple of days but finally I assured him that I am an excellent driver and I grew up with tons of snow and I can handle it! So the first morning driving on my own, Sean followed me out to make sure I would be OK. I was driving like a pro in our driveway. Then, realizing I was going to be late, I forgot the road conditions as I tried to turn and boom...or more accurately screech...slide...stop
Yup, I hit the ditch. London was with me. Looked over and said, "Nice Mom, you made it like 5 meters outside of our gate!

That is our gate and here is my car. I think it is at least 12 meters myself. Man, was it slippery and I need new tires. Luckily, Sean wasn't too mad because he was able to say I told you so!

We left the car for the day and after work, Sean came home to pull it out and luckily just as we were going to try and get it out our drywaller and friend happened by with a 4X4! Phew, it came out really easy.

Another shot of my fine skills. It was super icy and my car just wouldn't turn.

Blossom meeting our neighbour. Everyone came to see my humiliation!

Thanks Jason! This happened on Monday of this week....fast forward to today.

OK, I can explain. It is starting to warm up and I wanted to get a picture of the snow on my tractor as it has been so beautiful the last couple of days. So I brought my camera in the car. As I was looking at the snow and the tractor, I was distracted and pulled over too far on the one side...yup, I am stuck. Well, at least I am close to home. The wind is blowing really strong as a Chinook is on its way in. So I got out of the car in a deep drift to start walking to the house when a $20.00 bill went flying from behind. Must have been in my pocket. And it was high up in front of me, I tried to run and get it when the tree grabbed it!

So now the $20.00 is in the tree too high for me to get out and my car is stuck and I am waiting at home for another lecture on my poor driving skills. Remember, honey, I can cook pretty good, I keep a pretty good house and I excel at cuddling. Plus, I left a tip in the tree for you once you dig me out! OH WHAT A DAY~ How long 'til summer?

TiMBeR!

Anyone that has been to our farm knows we have no shortage of firewood. There were a lot of trees dead that were still standing (...lots 40-60ish) and they were really tall and we knew it was going to be difficult to cut them down. Sean got a new chainsaw for the task but was not finding time to do it. It was really worrying me as the man who owned the property before us had a tree fall into the house and do a lot of damage, so every time the wind blew I was worried.



Well, our prayers were answered. Grandpa Jack knew a guy who was a logger from Newfoundland and he was out of work. So he brought him up to see the job. I thought we would never be able to afford him as we heard it was over a $1000 per tree to take down and cut up. He said that he would take them all down for $600.00! Up all for $600. So we jumped on that. It only took him 3 days and probably 9 hours in total so that was pretty good tax free money.



We started in the back where my dad is going to be living. We felt that was really important. This is the after picture. It was so exciting to be having such a nice fall that we could get this work done. I loved hearing the sawing and the big crash. He just left them where they fell so it is a big mess now but at least they are down. We will have to haul them away and saw them all up this spring (and for the rest of our lives)!!!

While he was working my power went out. I went to look if he took out the power pole but it just touched the lines. Not a good way to introduce yourselves to the neighbours. We were without power for about 4 hours. (us and our whole road). When the power guy came out, he noticed that one more tree had to come down and it was a big one right in line to hit the power pole. So he came and put spikes on his boots and climbed up to attach a rope.

He used his truck to direct the way the tree fell.

Free help. You have to love that!

Can you spot him climbing the tree?

More trees before he cut them down.

This is the same shot as above so you can see some of the dead trees. I will take some in the spring so you can really know what it looks like! I have to say that this shot makes me want spring. It hasn't been that long since summer and already I have forgotten how green everything can be!

Timber! This is the tree that came down and with help missed the wire! He is all done now. Unfortunately for us (but good for him) he has work so he wasn't able to cut up any of the trees. We had a few cut up by one of his friends but he wasn't that great and he also got a job so I guess it is up to us after all. He used Sean's brand new chain saw and it did great until the last day when a tree fell back and crushed the chain saw. The guy was just sick about it and offered to replace it but it would have been almost as much as he made. So we replaced it and he finished the job. It was worth what it cost to replace it and pay him. He was a really kind man.

We still have quite a few trees left and we plan to plant a bunch in the spring. We were really blessed to get this job done! Heavenly Father is so good to us.

Welcome to the Funny Farm!

Some times I feel I live in a crazy backwards world. Here is a perfect picture of what I mean. Blossom begs all day to go out. Every time we open the door, Blossom rushes out and the kitties run right in! It is a constant battle to try to keep our animals happy. The grass is greener on the other side of the door.



London wants Brigham to come in and her dad says "he is an outside dog so he isn't allowed in". London has spent hours the last few weeks laying outside spoiling him. This is a typical thing I see each time I look out. All the kitties and Brigham snuggling with London. Now that there is snow on the ground, it has gotten harder for her to spend time with him. I am on the fence. I want both worlds and want both Sean and London to be happy. Yesterday, I caved and let Brigham in for about 1/2 hour. Poor little guy was terrified to come inside. We had to drag him and coax him to come up the stairs. When he finally got in he calmed down a bit but didn't know what to do besides sit on London's lap. Every time he got near me, Blossom barked and let him know to back off, "she is mine"

He got hot, so we put him outside as we don't want him to lose his winter coat. I wish we could have both worlds. Anyone out there have a farm dog that comes in sometimes? How do you train it to not go to the bathroom in the house and does it mess up their fur coat? London wants to spend time with him and he is still a puppy, but like I said, Sean and Blossom don't want to budge on their opinion and as usual I am in the middle!




The Kitties and Brigham have a love hate relationship. They love him to sleep with but don't enjoy being mauled when he tries to play. I really mean Mauled!! I am worried he is going to kill one of them. He bites, chews, slobbers and tromps on them thinking that their desperate MEW's are indicating they like it. Right now they hide from him most of the day. This is a picture of nap time....yes, the door is awful and we are going to change it, I promise!

So back to the craziness. The dog eats the cat food and the cats prefer the dog food. They sleep in his heated dog house and he slept outside and froze...now that it has gotten colder he has moved inside and all of them sleep together. I guess I should have told him that he hates cats....but I didn't have the heart to break up their love affair.