Busy with all sorts

Yesterday we received 5" of heavy, wet snow. So, of course, that's the day picked to deliver three cords of firewood. Everything was unloaded and stacked in the appropriate place, they could have charged for helping us stack, but I think the fact that we were working just as hard with them caused them to waive the fee.

In the evening we tromped through the snow and up the hill to the elderly neighbors house. They had called asking for help with their email. Although I could figure out that the internet wasn't working, I wasn't able to fix the problem, even with the help-line. At least I was able to arrange for a service visit. Today they called again with an update: the internet provider had turned it off! No explanations on why or how come the help-line couldn't tell. Very strange.

Good news: when I opened up the chicken coop this morning there weren't any tracks around it or in the pen so nothing has been trying to get in. Grace emerged to see what I brought them, but nobody was too thrilled about the snow.

This is the first month my son's new insurance took effect since he got his job. Today I went in to pick up one of his insulin prescriptions and discovered that where my insurance would have covered all but $85, this company was going to cost us $300! And this wasn't even the most expensive insulin! Fortunately, he has double coverage this month so I was able to switch it back to the original one and quickly arranged with my work not to take him off my policy.

We did make another investment today. Something I've wanted for quite awhile is a fire-resistant gun safe. A local business has just started carrying them and we got ours today. Not only do I like being able to lock up the guns, but storing the ammunition where fire wouldn't be as dire a problem makes me feel better. Getting it from the back of the pickup into the house and then standing it up was an adventure with just the two of us, but we did it.

I also learned that my wind turbine has finally been ordered. Things are really starting to mesh now.

Sad post

I lost a hen to a predator. I'm not sure what it was but it got her inside the chicken coop.
Losing one makes the others even more precious.
Grace
Cumulous
Nimbus
Old Ninja
Old Duchess
Frodo
Zen
Penny
Sherlock
Astrid
Ninja Twin 1
Ninja Twin 2
Young Duchess
3 Princesses
Mycroft
8 chicks/hens

And that's my flock. Five geriatric hens with strong personalities, Frodo - head rooster, ten hens that were hatched in 2012 and seem to all be moulting at the same time, Mycroft - rooster-in-training, and the eight young ones who are still discovering their names. It does seem odd to have so many birds yet only get one or two eggs a day.

Wetness abounds

Very much a fall day with drizzle and mist.

Which made it the perfect day to cook up a pot of super soup on the wood stove. Yum!

It may not look the most appetizing, but it is delicious.

Urgh

I'm wiped out completely. My body is almost twitching in exhaustion. Why? Because today was the last expected nice day for weather and it fell on a weekend! Mostly I've been hauling, cutting and restacking firewood. I seem to be obsessed this year. I use an electric chainsaw to cut too long pieces in half because I'm scared of the motor chainsaw, but ouch! is that ever hard on my back.

I finally planted my big grapevine in the polytunnel and closed it back up again. I really wish I had been able to get my hands on some straw bales to put around the tunnel for the winter, but no luck. I also gleaned corn out of a field at my parent's farm. I would have liked to get more but ran out of time. A couple windows got covered in plastic; I could do more tonight if only I had more energy!

Turning the corner

We had our first snowfall last night. How odd yet lovely to see everything plastered in white icing. It did all melt during the day, but we're forecast to get more tonight.

It was tough decision making time for me in the chicken yard. Because of where we live, for much of the winter the chickens prefer to stay inside. Something about walking in snow offends them.The problem is that with the thirteen chicks grown up, it's too crowded for everyone to move around comfortably. Add in that five are identifiably young, aggressive roosters that have begun fighting and something had to change. Mycroft gets to stay on as Junior Rooster under Frodo, but the others are being culled. It's one of the hardest things I do, but since I'm not a vegetarian, it is logical to face openly the source of the meat I eat. I'll probably cry though.

I found a very interesting article/post about the lifestyle choices we tend to make:

http://www.raptitude.com/2010/07/your-lifestyle-has-already-been-designed/
I can definitely see a lot of myself in there. Making the choice to cut back on hours worked is something that I often dream of, but how many actually make that change voluntarily? Thought provoking.

Splish splash

So very strange, it rained ALL DAY today. Hard drenching rain and wind lashed sideways rain and steady soaking rain. I have no idea how much we got here because it was already dark when I got home...and it's still coming down now. It's been so long since we received serious precipitation that I felt like I was driving through an alien landscape this morning.

We narrowly escaped a freeze over the weekend, but three nights this week are forecast to dip to freezing, so I doubt we'll avoid it for much longer. I had no choice but to hang the wet laundry in the basement tonight. I'm not really ready for autumn!

Hello again

I've taken quite a break from the blog. Sometimes life seems to be spinning in limbo; always waiting for something...waiting for rain to stop the hot, dry spell, waiting for people to get back to me on jobs, waiting for a chance to come up for air at work. Then, suddenly, everything starts to happen at once.

This was built on Friday. It's been so long in the planning that I didn't really believe it was up until I got home and stood inside. :) This is the firewood shelter that will allow me to park inside the garage all winter. It's 6' x 16' because that was the size of roof trusses the contractor had taking up space (free for me!) and I'm going to hang a canvas tarp across the opening once it's full. The wonderful rain is what made it possible. When they can't work on roofing little jobs like this get done. Even better - it came in at less than half what I budgeted so I've got some wiggle room on other projects.

Funny story: the builder asked if I really use the clothesline because nobody does anymore. When I explained I use it all the time he called me a flower child.

The rain also brought a cold snap that was my excuse to fire up the wood stove. The cats were in heaven for a day. It's warming back up for this week at least and we escaped freezing so the garden continues.

One thing I'm doing differently this year is to keep a good supply of wood in the porch so we don't have to haul it in when it's bitterly cold, dark and windy (something I hated last winter).

Speaking of freezing - the Black Hills in the western part of the state got hammered by a snowstorm this weekend. Some areas receiving well over 40" and strong winds to blow it all around.

If things go as planned (ha!) I'll have more to report on this week.