Good Morning!

It's a shocker, I know, that I'm finally here.  What's MORE of a shocker is that I'm up with hot coffee and beginning to write at 6:39 AM!  Maybe I'm making up for yesterday when I didn't wake up until noon after 13 straight hours of sleep!  Last night, I got just over 5, thanks to Dosie (the cat) who was tearing up and down the board walkway that connects the two decks, right underneath the bedroom window this morning.  How can 6 pounds of cat sound like an elephant when they do that?!  Then, of course, just as I was plodding downstairs to show her that I'd left the front door open a crack, specifically to avoid being wakened by animals wanting to go out or come in, she came scampering UP the stairs!  Sigh.  Kids!

I was just reviewing the pictures I've taken in the past several days to remind myself what to post about, and there's a lot!  But, you won't get it all right now: tooooo much.  Last Tuesday was the day my dad, Papa Pea, came out and when I started making some real headway cleaning up the front yard and prepping for it the summer.  Within this past week, we had our first real day of spring . . . and then it was summer.  I kid you not.  One day of spring, yep:  that was all we got.  Cold, cold, cold and then HOT (by my warped standards, anyway).

Last Wednesday, I shut down the outside wood furnace and made all the appropriate adjustments necessary to transfer production of the house's hot water to the water heater (which just serves as a hot water storage tank in the wintertime when it's heated from the boiler).  The mosquitoes arrived but not in droves, thank goodness.  I haven't had to wear a headnet or bug dope yet.  No blackflies, either, but I hesitate to jinx things by even mentioning that!  I also refilled the batteries.  Papa Pea had taken a look at them when he was here (I had some concern about the sulfuric build-up on some of the terminals) and cautioned me that they off-gas and, therefore, lose more of their acid/water balance as they age.  So, I need to keep a closer eye on that.  We also discussed a new physical layout for the batteries when I get my new ones:  as I've mentioned before, the 24 large, deep-cycle batteries are place three deep and eight across, and the depth is too much to allow for any sort of personal physical comfort when maintaining them.

We northeastern Minnesotans put our hummingbird feeders out around the 15th of May, and I thought I saw a quick glimpse of one on Sunday, but I couldn't be sure.  At any rate, I got their sugar water made and out on Monday, and I saw the first . . . and then a couple . . . little guy(s)/gal(s) yesterday morning.

My days before, during, and after the upcoming holiday weekend are gonna be a whirlwind of activity:  my oldest girlfriend and her family are coming from their home in St. Paul to put the second story on their cabin, just 9 miles east of me (keep your fingers crossed for good weather!).  She's a physician's assistant, and her hubby is a physicist, so their schedules are tight.  Due to that, they'd planned this trip last fall and booked me to nanny for their two little ones - ages 2 1/2 and, let me count, 9 months - for five of those days.  I begged off from the Saturday & Sunday of the Memorial Day Week(end) so I could be in my gallery in town, hoping to grab the first of the season's tourists.  AND, my uncle and his wife from California might be visiting over those same days . . . so it's gonna be a BUSY time!

I've really kicked it into overdrive concerning my business, too, and my days "off" seem to be more productive than my in-office days.  While I'm not necessarily complaining, the problem with being in my office is that friends know that I'm in my office!  So, getting things done there seems to be a bit ineffectual.  I think I'm going to start trying to change that by keeping the door to my office closed.  If that doesn't work, I'll have to start putting the word out that I really can't be visited.  And/or just really limit those visits.  It's my own fault, I know:  when they say, "I really shouldn't be tying you up!" . . . I tend to respond, "I know, but I never see you!"  So, WHY am I complaining?  Yes, I am in charge of my own schedule:  I need to learn to put a cap on things.  ;)

But, following a COMPLETE waste of limited time in the office last week, I've made the first two of my three consecutive days here at home count.  I've put myself on an hourly schedule, and it's all about my 60-minute timer.  I'll do one hour at the computer on business work, then one hour on Swamp River Ridge work.  Rinse and repeat until the end of the day when I'm exhausted.  Usually around 9:00 or 10:00 PM.  BUT, I am getting things DONE, and that feels good!

My "around the homestead" accomplishments these past days have been based around the good weather:  laundry out on the line to dry, high-pressure washing of the second and larger slate walkway, planting a border of lily bulbs in an area susceptible to erosion, intense vacuuming (while the sun shines & charges my w-e-a-k and desperately-needing-to-be-replaced battery system), keeping an eye on the chicks (haven't lost one yet although I did have to perform an "emergency procedure" on a very pasty vent Sunday night), weeding, pruning trees, putting rock borders around perennials and trees, and more general clean-up of the front yard.  Even though there's no substantial green on the trees yet, I could already mow some of the grass . . . which I think I may start today.

I took a short walk in the woods the other day to see what I could find poking up through the duff:  wood anemones only, so far.  The unopened blossoms are particularly pink this year.

The ticks seem to be out in force already, though:  while at The Peanut's & Bunny's house for dinner last Friday night, I had to rather suddenly excuse myself to the bathroom as I sqeaked, "Excuse me, I have SOMETHINGCRAWLINGUPMYLEG!"  Their dad just said, "Mmm.  Tick."  I dropped trou in the bathroom and The Peanut came zoomin' in to say, "Can I see?!"  Yep, first tick of the season.  I showed her how to CRUSH their hard shells to make sure it was d-e-a-d!  Then, last night as I was sitting here in this chair in the library crocheting, I felt something drop onto my neck.  Yup, another one.  (How many of you are starting to itch and creep out, reading this?!)  I'd felt something in my hair earlier in the evening but couldn't find anything . . . I suspect it was the tick.  Yuck.  BUT, I'll take ticks ANY day of the week over (shudder) spiders.  (As I look overhead to make sure there isn't one ready to fall down on me.  Spider, not tick.)

I took the new header photo last Thursday as I headed into town, less than a mile down the road from home.  At first glance, I thought, "Oh, a baby!"  I was even a little hesitant to stop to take the picture, wondering where protective Mama was.  But, then I realized that it was just a small yearling:  freshly kicked out of the nest.  Cow moose (meese?) keep their calves through the whole first year until they calf again in the springtime:  then the 1-year old gets kicked to the curb to fend for him/herself!

So, with that, it's time for pictures.  Let's see what I can find of interest to post.

I took this picture a week ago last Monday to show how things were starting to green up.  Yes, that is snow in the right-hand side of the picture.  But, it's - finally - all gone now.

The soft needles of the Tamarack (aka American Larch) are starting to pop.

I took this yesterday to show that there are no green leaves on the trees yet.  This, across the driveway from the chicken house and poultry yard, is where I'd like to build a small barn - just out of view at the far left.  The structure that you see was going to be the home for the bee hives, but I've since found a better spot for them.  Instead, I will use this as a small, enclosed garden area . . . once it's repaired from the damage caused by a huge tree falling on it a couple of years ago.

I got the large front deck completely cleaned up yesterday.  Outdoor rugs moved and vacuumed, spider webs cleared.  Then, moved as many houseplants as will tolerate the outside conditions out there.  Got the new cover on the table, too.  Now, aside from the furniture cushions which need to stay inside unless being used, it's user-friendly and ready to go!

Finally, I'll leave you with a picture of the kitties, curled up on the afternoon sun.  I love it when they cozy up together!

I hope you have a terrific Wednesday!

Some Videos

I forgot to post this 2nd moose video I took last month. 



And, here are the new chickie-chicks . . . although the red heat lamp bulb skews the colors!



And, lastly, the ragin' river on Monday!

Back Home

Good morning, friends!

I’m writing from the sunroom as I drink my morning coffee.  I’m watching the cats watching the five new finches I bought yesterday to FINALLY stock the aviary!  I was awoken at 6:00 AM by the strange sounds of both the cats AND Tucker attacking the beautiful piece of furniture.  I was expecting that from the cats, but not Tucker!  After some quick fortification of the aviary to ensure they couldn’t get the door open, I stumbled back upstairs and to bed for another four hours.)

I got three zebra finches and two Bengalese (aka society) finches.  In finches, it’s always good to have odd numbers (at least, that’s what I think I remember reading years ago).  Making it my last stop at the end of an exhausting trip and once I was out in the car yesterday, I transferred them from their five individual boxes into a small cage I’d brought with me to the “big city” of Duluth (where I’ve been the past two days), and they’re still in that, sitting in the bottom of the aviary, waiting for me to finish setting up the big unit and then release them.  It was a comedy in PetCo yesterday as two of them escaped while we were getting them from their cages into the boxes, but, between to PetCo employees and myself, we managed to catch them both.  So, there are no finches living in the rafters of PetCo today, as is an apparently fairly common situation.  :)

So, finishing the aviary set-up on my list today as well as wood work, snow plowing, and unloading the car . . . before going to friends’ house for dinner.  And, speaking of snow removal, this, indeed, seems to be turning into the year that Winter Never Ended.

It was snowing buckets when I left on Monday (not exactly the best weather to be driving 3+ hours), and I had to delay my noon start by two hours in order to plow (the 8+ inches of snow that had fallen) enough to get out.  I was somewhat apprehensive about what conditions I would discover last night upon returning to my Swamp River Ridge.

The loggers, who are working again about a mile down the winter driveway, had plowed in to their logging site, but I was greeting by a snowbank as their plow had curved off the road and into their site.  A snowmobile had broken through the snowbank and so, uttering an oath that rhymed with “Spit!” I aimed for that hole (although not as wide as the car) and punched the accelerator.  I made it up and over the pile of snow but landed in what was, in all practicality, now nothing more than a snowmobile trail.  The track I’d plowed out the day before wasn’t even noticeable anymore.  Propelled by nothing more than sheer determination (I did NOT want to have to walk home, fire up the truck, and then drive back to retrieve the birds, etc. after such a long, two day shopping trip), I kept the little Yaris moving over the snowmobile tracks.  Had I stopped, that would have been IT.  Amazingly enough, I made it all the way up the hill to the base of the driveway.  (I’m not sure how!)

While plowing on Monday and seeing that there was still that glare ice underneath the snow I shoved around, I’d wisely left a 5 gallon bucket of ashes at the bottom of the driveway, thinking I might need to use it coming home last night.  Without getting out to spread the dirty stuff, I made my first attempt up the driveway’s hill.  Nope.  Second attempt.  Nope.  Third attempt.  Nope.  Dammmit!  I did NOT want to get out of the packed car until I was in the yard!  Determined (and knowing I had the back-up of the ashes, which helped), I backed down and gave it a final, good ol’ college try.  Annnnnnd, spinning, spinning, but making inches of progress . . . AHHHHH!  We crested the hill!  “Yayyyyy!” I told the dogs, “We made it!” 

I’ll take pictures today, but, when I got out of the car, I could see we’d been draggin’ trow:  the new snow was at least 6” deep.  So, what’s that?  Upwards of 14” of new snow.  I had to shovel the deepest parts of the yard-to-the-house path so that I could transfer the bare essentials (birds) from the car into the house.  This winter’s been crazy:  snow, snow, and MORE SNOW!

So, with this limited post (but it’s all I have time for), I’ll sign off and suit up for a day of work . . . but rewarding work!  It was SO wonderful, as always, to arrive home last night.  Even though it means so much more work, I’ll take the pristine white of the deep, deep snow that’s still found once one turns north and off the dirtiness of late winter on Lake Superior’s North Shore!  Is it easy to get around in town now?  Yep, but it sure is DIRTY and ugly!  I wouldn’t trade my pure white surroundings for that ease ANY day of the week!  :)

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

For the past few years, the Christmas Eve celebration with my folks has been held on the eve of Christmas Eve.  That's so we all get a break from one another:  who wants to see their family both on Christmas Eve and then again in the morning?!  I mean, really . . . !  :p  Anyway, I think we all like how it works out, so that is the plan again this year.  After this blog post and a comprehensive round of outside chores, I'll pull myself together and head in to their place for the afternoon.

Even though I'm not going into the office today, this morning marked the third day of getting up (trying to get up!) with the alarms.  I feel like I slept pretty hard and soundly last night, despite Maisy (and, therefore, everyone else) needing to go out around 3:30.  And, despite our house guest, too!  Yes, Swamp River Ridge is hosting an unexpected visitor through Monday night:  a 9-month old or so black puppy named Lexie!  Her parents planned to drop her off at the local kennel last night on their way out of town but didn't call first . . . and so didn't realize, until the last minute, that the kennel was closed for the holiday!  Whoops!  When her stressed owners called last night to ask if I could stop by their house to let her out each time I drove by, I quickly said, "Don't you two worry about a THING!  Leave all her stuff in the porch, and I will pick her up on my way home.  She'll spend Christmas with me and the rest of the crew."

Tucker wouldn't let her into the back seat of the truck last night, so she got to ride shotgun up front with me.  And, once we reached the winter driveway, I taught her how to be a plow dog (BRACE yourself when we "gently" smash into a big pile of snow)!  And, unlike Tucker - who I FORGOT to teach that lesson to the first time he went plowing with Maisy and me - she didn't roll off the seat once!  ;)  The only "problem" we've encountered is the fact that she likes to chase the cats.  Dosie is dumb enough (or should that be "smart enough"?) to just sit there, so there's no danger of things toppling over as they run through the house.  Bonzi is another story, and I have NO idea where she took shelter after the last disastrous crusade, even though I've looked for her.  I think she'll be plenty happy when I take Lexie away for the afternoon!

The main road, unplowed, yesterday.

To my surprise, the main road was NOT yet plowed when I got out to it yesterday morning.  But, that just proves that we did get such a good amount of heavy snow that the County Plower Extraordinnaire had to tend to other people & their roads before mine.  I drove for about 1 1/2 miles, being pulled this way and that, before I finally "gave up" and dropped the plow.  I plowed for about 4 or 5 miles until I came to the same turn-off that I mentioned in my last post.  Then, there were enough tracks to successfully follow.  And, within a mile, I met the plow coming up the road.

Red arrow denotes Plow Guy.

Okay, I've been super side-lined by Facebook chats, so I'd better cut this short.  More later tonight or tomorrow!

Merry, merry!

Me (That's Right, It's All About Me)

There's repeat of a meme going thru Facebook right now:  25 Things About Me.  I've done this one before, but, let's face it, it's fun, so I'm gonna do it again.  (I wonder if I'll have any repeats?  It would be interesting to see!)  So, without further ado and in no particular order . . . .

25 Things About Me

1. I used to hate cats.  Hate 'em.  Now I have three.
2. I smoke.  A pipe.  On occasion.
3. Fundamentally, I am a very lazy person.  What keeps me moving are the examples set by my folks (the hardest working people you'll ever meet!), the desire to be "a good person", and doing what's required to live the life I want.
4. With our wedding scheduled for (and held in) February, I convinced Tom to marry me in a civil service the previous June.  I felt quite sure he would get cold feet if we waited.  (Analyze THAT, why don't you, given the fact that we're now divorced!!)
5. I think I (?!) believe in previous lives.  At least, I believe that there is some unknown entity that connects us to certain places or lifestyles that we've never experienced in this life.
6. I have two stoves in my kitchen, and I use the old, wood cookstove that raised a family of 13 local children 95% of the time.  And, I wouldn't give it up for love nor money.
7. If it weren't for the solitary fact that I'll be able to use it as a digital picture frame in my office/gallery once I can replace it as my laptop, I would use this computer for target practice.  (Update:  considering I had this list written up to Item 15 when this computer crashed, and I lost all of those [8-14], I may use it for target practice yet!)
8. I wish I could be more organized.  (That's actually my biggest wish in life.)
9. I think I could be a very "good" rich person.  
10. If I was rich and didn't have to work to make money, I still don't think I'd have enough time to do ALL the things I want to do in life.
11. Caffeine doesn't affect me.  I can drink coffee right before bed.  Conversely, if I'm tired while driving, caffeine doesn't help.
12. You will never come to my house and find ALL the dishes done.  Just . . . can't . . . do . . . it.
13. I designed this Swamp River Ridge house and know every inch of it, down to the 4 1/2" difference between the "matching" bump-outs that are the kitchen and sunroom.
14. I will forever be grateful to Tom for getting me through my depression / years of infertility struggles.
15. I am very glad that Tom finally had the strength to tell me, that horrible January day, that he was not happy in our marriage.  I never would have (ended the marriage), and we're both better, happier people now, because of that.  For that, I thank him.
16. I'd always wanted a big, commercial strength Kitchen Aid and got one, from an old boyfriend, for a wedding gift.  It has sat, proudly, on the kitchen counter these past 10 years.  I have used it . . . once.
17. I have always wanted to live by myself, in a cabin in the woods, for an entire calendar year.  No human contact other than, perhaps, two or three visits . . . but for no more than a couple of hours (mail & resupply & news).  I don't think I'd want to do it w/out a computer connection to the world, though.  Nor would I do it without the companionship of some four-leggeds.
18. I have always wanted to live, for some period of time (at least two weeks), without clocks.  I'm interested to see how my internal timepiece would adjust.
19. I love art.  I wish I had the money to spend on it.  I would support a lot of local artists.
20. I would like to travel across America in an RV some day.  (With no time or money restrictions.)
21. I almost lost the nearly 35-year friendship of my best friend following her wedding.  I'm glad I didnt.
22. I have been to only one open-casket funeral and touched only one dead person in my life.  She was cold.  (Go figure.)
23. I have never been able to stick to any sort of diet (not just the lose-weight kind).  If there's something I'm choosing to omit from my food groups, I can think of nothing but that treat / bready-goodness / alcohol . . . and immediately cave.
24. I could never live in a part of the world where spiders were big and common.
25. I've gotten the autograph of only one famous person, David Byrne of The Talking Heads.  If a friend who "knew music" hadn't picked him out at the London airport, I would have had no idea who he was.

Here's the link to the last time I did this - in January of 2009.  And, yep, I DID have some repeats!

Now, dear reader, will you do the same?  I l-o-v-e learning things like this about my friends!

Beleve It or Not

Believe it or not, folks, I am writing from the comfort of . . . my BED, laptop with WIRELESS MODEM (I know - gasp!) actually w-o-r-k-i-n-g!  Granted this is the dinosaur HP laptop that is so slow that it, quite literally, has taken me about 10 minutes to get to this point and have this much text register on the screen . . . but, at least, it's WORKING!  (I uploaded the photos earlier today from my office, in case you were wondering.)  And, in sharp contrast to last night when I was lying here, not so comfortably, sweat building up in various unpleasant places, tonight I feel a LOVELY cool breeze blowing in the window directly behind me.

I expect that the dogs will be a little whacky tonight - they already are, Maisy barking at blowing leaves, and Tucker looking up at me, just before I came upstairs, with a "What?!" expression . . . pretending I DIDN'T see the mouse tail hanging out the side of his snout. (Apparently Annie Blue had just brought her best buddy a "toy" from outside.)  Well, the full Sturgeon Moon will do that to critters, I guess.  Even Bonzee (how should I spell that?!) was farther down the driveway than I expected to see her tonight when I drove in.

Even though my office is still a mess and the gallery room not yet ready for its unveiling, it's been feeling so good to go in, sit down at my desk, and actually attack the jobs that have been waiting in the wings for so long.  I'm waiting to hear back from the longest-waiting customer to make sure she still wants me to relocate and redesign her website (she and her husband raise Fjord horses).  She's been EXTREMELY understanding through these past months, and so I did begin the work today, expecting that she'll want me to continue . . . but it will be good to have the confirmation from her, obviously.  And, I will feel so much better, finally getting the first of these "constantly in the back of my mind" projects started, finished, and then filed away!

It sure is a good feeling, too, to be almost excited to leave the house in the morning because I know that I'm going to work at a place that is nothing but positive (or, if it's not, it's only MY fault)!  Yeah, there's that HUGE part of me that is fairly terrified that I will fail, but there's not much point worrying about that until I've given it enough of a go, time-wise.  So, the sooner I put those negative thoughts behind me and move ahead with what's at hand, the more success I'll have, all the way around.

No segue, but . . . I thought I'd give you a glimpse of my drive each morning.  As you'll see, it's hell.  Ugly as all get out, too.  And, the traffic is insane.  (Before I forget, I saw 3 foxes and 1 nice looking yearling bear on the way home tonight!)

So, my drive in to town takes me down a quiet gravel road to a larger gravel road to the highway.  Here goes.

The quiet gravel road:

The larger, busier gravel road:

The bottom 3 miles of the larger, busier road are blacktop:

And, finally, the highway & the big lake.  Tough, isn't it?

Oh!  And, last but not least, my constant driving companions

(one slightly less interested than the other):

And, with that, I'm going to treat myself to a few pages of the most recent Keepsake NeedleArts catalog.  G'night!

Just the Kitties

My day has been a complete Comedy of Errors, so, instead of trying to write a witty & insightful post, I'll show some pictures of the woodshed cats that I took yesterday.

These first two are of Bonzi, the more social (by far!) of the two.  I've handled her enough to know that she's a girl.  (Ooops!  Just did some quick, online research, and I guess I'm still not sure of either of 'em, boys or girls or one of each!)

Here's timid little Dosie.  S/he's really not as skittish as s/he appears here:  I'm sure one of the dogs was coming at her, full-force, when I took this.  It's the best shot I've gotten yet of her, though.

They are both super-duper sweet, though, and still haven't tried to come down to the house.  Neither have I noticed Annie Blue hanging out with them . . . .

Ten

I thought I'd have time for a proper post tonight, but, as usual, I've worked myself right out of time.  So, inspiration struck, and here follow 10 random Points of Interest / True Facts:

1. Annie Blue is trying to catch a mouse in my office as we speak ('course, she brought it IN and then let it go so that she could play with it).
2. I became a new auntie today!!  (But, shhhh, I need to let her tell you first!)
3. I'm hungry.  But it's 11:45 at night, and I'm going to bed.
4. I am down to 4 (pullets, now) of my original 15 Partridge Rock chicks.
5. I think I know what's killing the chickens:  a nasty squeal from the chicken yard brought me out at a trot near sunset only to see something large, grey, and winged take off from one of the trees surrounding their area.  No wonder I haven't caught anything in the on-the-ground live trap!
6. I collect coins.  My mother didn't know that.
7. I've finally settled on names for the kittens (I think):  Bonzi for the cuddly one, and Dosie for the timid one.
8. Our heat and humidity has finally broken, I think.
9. I thought I'd be able to get the new computer I need for just under $500.  (You can begin laughing hysterically now.)
10. The new header picture is a scanned postcard from many years ago of the little berg I call "town".

That's all!  Discuss amongst yourselves.

Additions to the Homestead

I’m writing from the strange location of my e-mail program . . . seeing if I can possibly post pictures THIS way.  Whether in the Old Editor or in the New Editor, Blogger isn’t accepting my image uploads.  The only possible explanation I can think of for this (other than the ones I’ve already checked out) is that I’ve maxed out my image uploads on this blog . . . but wouldn’t you think they’d TELL me that, were it the case?  Hmph.  Any of YOU having any problems uploading your images into blog posts?

I think I’ll try posting this much just to see the results.  Hold tight and cross your fingers!

Continuation:  well, it DOES work . . . with a couple modifications.  Hey, at least I can put up photos again - I won't complain!

So, for a while, I've been day-dreaming about having barn cats.  As of Saturday night, I have two . . . woodshed cats!  (No barn yet.)  Two of my girls from work accompanied me when they heard what my after-work errand was, and they chose the names Nica (for this one in front who seems to be a girl) and Ritz for the striped one in back.  Me, I'm tending towards Boots for the first one (who has white sox) and Crackers for the other (Ritz . . . Crackers . . . ?  Get it?).  The first one is VERY lovey and clingy but, though she'll cry for a little while, hasn't tried to follow me back down to the house . . . yet.  Last night was the first time that shy Crackers came w/in a foot of my legs.  But, hey, I AM the lady with the tuna and milk!

A fun side effect of them living in / near the woodshed is that I feel the need (of course!) to spend some time visiting with them, both morning and night . . . but I have more time at night.  So, until the mosquitoes have sucked up about half my blood and I can no longer stand it, I stay.  And, last night, I caught Crackers suddenly attracted to a pile of cut birch . . . where the flashlight's beam showed a green tree frog hopping from log to log.  I certainly wouldn't have seen that had I just gone into the house straight from the car last night!  :)

-          Chicken Mama

Save Me from Temptation

GOATS FOR SALE: 

• 1 Purebred Alpine milk goat; 1 ½ yrs. old, no horns, very friendly, ready to breed! $100
• 3 South African Boer does; 1 one-year old, ready to breed, $100; 2 doelings, very cute!  $75 ea. 
• 1 Alpine/Boer buck, very friendly, no horns, super sweet!  3 yrs old, ready to breed above!  $100 

Great for brush-clearing, milking, eating!

Have to thin the herd before winter. Email or call Geri. 

Editorial Comment:  I know I said I would N-E-V-E-R get goats,

but this WOULD take care of my front yard problem!  ;)

Quick Update

I haven't been on the keys since last Wednesday?  Yikes!  But, I have a good excuse - the last few days have been go-go-go.  In short:

Last Wednesday:  I was In-Office working in town.  (I think - can't remember that far back!)

Thursday:  Same.  On one of the days, Bundle of Joy and her mama came to visit.  Here they are in one of the seating areas of the coffee shop / community gathering space, playing with Maisy.

Friday:  Nannied for both The Peanut and a little 21-month old boy.  Before the 2nd pumpkin joined us for the day, The Peanut and I ran errands . . . including a trip to the dairy farm for "chalky moat" (chocolate milk).  Evening with the parents of both kiddlies plus friends (family to The Peanut) who were up to their cabin from St. Paul.

Also on Friday, The Peanut being smack in the middle of potty training (diapers are only for bedtime!), we made a few extra stops during our town running (to prevent the need for an outfit change, if you get my drift).  The prettiest stop was this one, just outside a horse pasture (one of the very few in the county).

 

Maisy wanted to get out and play with the horses.

 

Saturday:  Essential clean-up of house, then packing and driving over 200 miles southwest to attend "My Girl's" high school graduation.  Arrived about 11:30 PM (yikes).  Tom stayed here both Saturday & Sunday nights, doing chores and taking care of the dogs.  It was GREAT to not worry about things while I was gone!  Also, he WORKED while he was here!  More on that later, but the logging road is FIXED, the upstairs of the garage is SORTED, and the lawn is MOWED!  Whoo-hoo!!!!  It was beginning to (no, it DID) look like an abandoned house in the height of summer around here.  It seemed to take forever for the grass to be high enough to warrant cutting . . . but now . . . oi vey!  It was embarrassing.

  

Sunday:  Graduation . . . MIS-ER-ABLY hot and humid.  Hellish.  (Pictures to follow in another post.)  Not so bad as My Girl's sister-in-law's experience, tho, who was in Iowa attending her sister's college graduation . . . where people were PASSING OUT the heat was so bad!

Monday:  Packing up and leaving, errands on the way home capped off by a really nice visit with an old friend who is in the hospital (lucky to be alive and/or not paralyzed after falling backwards into the deep end of an empty pool during its spring cleaning while she worked around it).  Returned home after midnight.

Tuesday / Yesterday:  Nannied oldest / dearest friend's little guy (also 21 months old) while his mom & dad worked on their cabin 9 miles away.  Miserably hot & humid day again.  85.8° in the shade on the north side of the house here.  FORTUNATELY, a big storm came through in the late afternoon and dropped the temperature to 71° in about 10 minutes!  I can't WAIT to get into the cold fog that the big lake is spreading over those living on its shoreline (which includes town when I'm at work)!

More tonight, I hope . . . or tomorrow.

Battered. But not beaten.

Ugh, I am tired tonight.  Like, there's nowhere I want to be other than right here in my bed tired.  Like, I don't want to write a blog post tonight tired.  But, I do want to get the words out, so write I will.  But, before I get down to the nitty-gritty . . . .

Have you ever been beaten about the head by a turkey's wings?  I have.  In the past hour.  The only thing that really saved me is that Turkey Durk is feelin' a little poorly at the moment.  Here's the story:


A week or so ago, after a cool spell, I noticed Turkey Durk acting other than his normal, chipper self.  He didn't move much and, when he did . . . well, he wobbled.  I finally realized that the dumb animal was frozen!  As in chilled to the bone!  I carried him into the chicken house with no trouble and put him right under the heat lamp.  He proceeded to wobble back outside through the little poultry door.  Dumb gobbler.  


That night, I went out to walk or carry Turkey Durk back into the house for the night.  I'd lock him in.  Surprise, surprise, he was already IN the coop AND on the highest rung of the roost!  


He kept to the chicken coop for the next couple of days and then wandered outside once his self-imposed "shut in" was complete.  I was relieved and happy to hear him give his normally robust hoot of a warbling gobble.


Anyway, to make a short story long, I noticed the same behavior again this morning.  I was determined that he sleep inside tonight.  However, instead of taking the time to w-a-l-k him in (a slow process!), I chose to pick him up.  Unfortunately, I didn't have his wings properly pinned against his body AND he wasn't as weak as before when the dummy had gotten so cold.  

The upshot?  This lady homesteader was, as I said, soundly beaten about the head and her headlamp was knocked severely askew.  Matter of fact, I even pulled my glove off to feel if my right ear was bleeding.  But, persistence prevailed, and the turkey is in the coop.  And, if he falls over dead from the cold tomorrow . . . well, it won't be my fault!


And, with that said, I really have to close my eyes.  I'll try to get the rest out tomorrow.

Personal Dog Food "Recall"

Lordy, lordy, but I am tired tonight.  Sore, too.  Must have overdone it yesterday shoveling, but I don't think I shoveled any "harder" yesterday than the day before!  I do know, though, that my brain would just NOT shut off last night, and it was around 2:00 AM before I finally fell asleep.  Ugh.  

Tom started kettle bell training on Monday night, and, while he could hardly move after the class that night, he says that today is worse:  two-day-effect and all that.  We'll see how he feels after his 2nd beating tonight. 

I came in from evening chores about 20 minutes ago, and it was a nice treat to have it still be a bit light at 5:00 PM!  And there's only more daylight to come!  :)

I keep forgetting to write about this, but I'm just now FINALLY getting the big box of Christmas wrapping paper (used) out of the foyer, and the empty bag of dog food was sitting on the top, so without even further ado . . . .

We bought some cheap dog food back in December, and the dogs seem to be ALLERGIC to it!  Now, I know that Purina is a decent brand (although something called 'animal digest' was included in the list of ingredients), but I don't think we'll be buying Purina Healthy Morsels Soft & Crunchy Bites with Real Lamb & Rice again!  Maybe it was just that bag or maybe it just hit our dogs for some odd reason, but thank goodness we figured it out!

To Tom's credit, he was the one who finally stumbled upon the idea of the problem being caused by their food.  We'd gone thru every other common denominator we could think of, including anxiously watching them for other signs of blasto(mycosis).  Of which there were none, fortunately.  But, we remained stumped, watching them both sneeze and hack and itch and snuffle and snort like nobody's business.  Then, one day, Tom just cast a knowing look at the food barrel and said, "I wonder if it's not that cheap dog food?"

So, the upshot?  No more Purina Healthy Morsels Soft & Crunchy Bites with Real Lamb & Rice = no more problems!

From the Highest High . . . .

Okay, let's get the frustrating heartbreak out of the way, first.

From my previous post, you'll see that The Pregnant One had her baby! A little girl, as expected, and all is perfectly, wonderfully well regarding her arrival and current state.

However . . . . The new parents had this sweet "first baby". Here she is, posing for me in front of last year's Christmas tree. She was SUCH a good dog, and Mommy & Daddy were SO looking forward to introducing her to the baby when they arrived home yesterday.


A disaster interrupted the joy late Wednesday, though. Abby was residing with family during the hospital stay . . . and was tempted by something on the other side of the highway . . . and now sweet Abby is gone.

The highest of emotional highs has been followed by the lowest of lows. I just found out yesterday afternoon, and Tom stopped on his way home last night just to check in with them. I'll go down today to . . . you know, just "be" there . . . and help them focus on the joy that is their adorable little girl.

'Oklahoma' and other Mental Meanderings

I need to buy the original soundtrack to 'Oklahoma'. Can't believe I don't already have it, to tell you the truth. Surely, hardly a week goes by that I'm not singing, "Ohhhh, what a beautiful morrrrrrning; oh, what a beautiful dayyyyyyy . . . ." Such was the case this morning.

I know I love this place we've created here because, even though I was tired and I'm NOT a morning person, I couldn't help but be excited to get out of bed early (relatively speaking, of course!) this morning to go take a walk around ye ol' homestead. See, I've been gone. Yup, for two days and one night. So, naturally, I had to reacquaint myself with the place - see how the poultry was doing, what new wildflowers had opened, and how the garden was faring. :)

(I know, I know . . . pathetic.)

I nannied both Wednesday and Thursday this week, and there wasn't much sense in spending two hours on the road to and from home in between, so I spent the night - albeit an all too quick one - at our little cabin just outside of town. Silly me: I thought I'd have time to settle in with my book, glass of wine at my side. But, after a wonderful little catch-up with the peanut's nana & papa . . . and some computer work for my folks at their house . . . it wasn't until 11:00 PM that I stumbled up the path, unlocked the padlock, lit the oil lamps (no power or running water), and made a small fire to push the dampness out. I only made it an hour or so, reading. Sigh.

So, the first signs of fall are in the air. Ugh. No, not that I dislike autumn - on the contrary, I love it! But, I'm . . . not . . . ready . . . for . . . it! I still have WAYYYYYY too many summertime things to do!

Yesterday I took the peanut on a drive trying to find the new homesite friends are building on but had no luck (K & V, where IS the road / driveway?!). But, on that drive, I spied two displays of brilliant red and burning orange popping out on extended maple tree branches. Doh! It's too soon! (Although, in reality, I usually spy those early autumn harbingers at the end of July.)

The goldenrod is in bloom now, and the first buds of the summer's very last flowers - Purple Asters - are just beginning to open.

See the cows in my new header photo? Thursdays are usually the day I run to the dairy farm to get the milk & cream that I use to make cottage cheese & yogurt. These three calves have been kept in the same large corral this year. Dunno why, but I hope it's for a GOOD reason (i.e. not fattening 'em up to become veal!). Anyway, they're right next to my parking spot, so it's always fun to catch them doin' their thing.

Speaking of critters, not a day goes by that we don't see SOME kind of animal on our drives to / from home. At the very least, we'll see grouse. But, this year, the fox population has SKY-rocketed, and we see kits nearly every day we drive out. I am a bit worried, though, that their higher numbers will result in disagreements between them and me (i.e. Chicken Mama) come fall and winter when their natural prey might become more scarce . . . and the chicken yard provides an undeniable attraction for them!

The black bear numbers are up this year, too, and I haven't seen ONE that hasn't look absolutely, brilliantly (glossy black fur) healthy. A valley just up from the highway that boasts a nice little population of year-round folks was suffering from what they thought was one really bothersome bruin earlier this summer, but, after s/he was "dispatched", the problems continued . . . which explained the wide (physical) range of destruction. I haven't heard whether or not the 2nd culprit was caught. Anyway - knock on wood - we haven't had any problems up here yet from bears. But, on my way in to town Wednesday morning, I saw a large yearling pop out from the cool, wet ditch on my right and high-tail it across the road just about a mile from home here. Then, oddly enough, about two miles farther along, I saw a single little cub scamper across the road in front of me. Hmmm, where was Mama?? (But, generally speaking, you don't see two different families in such close proximity. Not up here, anyway. Could have been a coincidence, could have been illustrative of the current rise in population.)

White-tailed deer have been moving into our neighborhood, too, which is worrisome. Why? Because moose & deer don't share the same immediate forest, and so we worry that Global Warming is chasing the moose farther north and creating nicer habitats for the deer. And, we don't wanna lose the moose! Waaahhh!

But then, even though I've seen deer on both of my two most recent trips out, I was comforted to come upon a small bull and cow last night on my way home. The cow veered off into the trees almost immediately, but I followed the bull for 1/2 a mile or so until he finally turned off. It was lucky that I got ANY pictures, but these are poor 'cause the lens was open too long, and I was driving to keep up with him at the same time. But, at least you can get some sense of him in these shots. (Obviously, I had to tweak these to get ANYTHING to show, but at least you can kinda see him now.)





We're having dinner with dear friends tonight. She is pregnant with their first and can feel the babe move each day now . . . but we can't feel anything on the outside yet (although it's not for lack of all of us trying!) :) Baby is due around December 11th, and this "auntie" is awfully excited! Anyway, I've been asked to make my tapioca pudding, and I'll make homemade cottage cheese, too. A Shepard(ess) Pie that the mama of the (previously discussed) little peanut that I nanny for made us is coming out of the freezer for the ocassion, too . . . UNLESS I get the momentum to make something new between now and tonight. And, I need to get my jewelry-making supplies out . . . the little sister of the mama-to-be is visiting from Kansas, and this will be our last night to see her. She's a DOLL, and has completely taken to Tom. Or, should I say, "completely taken to PICKING ON Tom!" :) I'm gonna make her a pair of earrings or a bracelet to remember us by. We won't see her until her annual visit next summer.

Okay, I'd better get my rusty-duster up and movin'. Won't get ANYTHING done at this rate. But, for today, I'm just going to try to ENJOY living here at Swamp River Ridge and IGNORE all the "to-do" things! Right? Right. ;)

Of Dairy

Just wanted to say 'hi' - not much more time than that will allow.


Cottage cheese demand is really up right now, it being summertime and all. I made 4 batches yesterday and 4 more this morning.

Here's a cute calf at the farm where I get the fresh milk.


Tom's been away from home since June 20th! And in New Mexico for a trial-by-fire two-week-long job interview since June 29th! But, he returns home today . . . and then we're off to a big wedding tonight.

So, no rest for the weary. I'll be back soon, but I hope to take much of tomorrow to catch up with my husband! (And I'll fill you in on his interview then, too!)

Have a great weekend!

Blog Entry 02-03-09

What's new? Nuthin' much.

I've recently learned that it's gauche to apologize for not updating on a blog. But, what's a gal from Minnesota to do? I mean, there's that 'Minnesota Nice' thing goin' on.

We're still without our regular electrical system, so I am - once again - writing from my laptop in the sunroom with my feet up in front of a roaring fire. And, let me tell you, if I could only connect to the modem's ethernet cable from in here, this could easily be my new writing location! The local generator repair guru came last Thursday only to gaze at the generator and sigh, "Ohhhh, that's not good." After removing such and such part(s), he left (said parts in hand) with the message that they'd be "better than new" when they returned from being re-manufactured in a week or so.

So, meanwhile, we:

1. Use as little electricity as possible. This means no ironing, no vacuuming, no clothes washing/drying, no electric lights in the evening, keeping the thermostat set to 60 degrees (while it's below zero outside), etc.

2. On sunny days, the batteries get charged by the solar panels, and so then I CAN do the above mentioned ironing, vacuuming, and washing.

3. On cloudy (the majority of the) days, we run the back-up portable Yamaha generator to charge the system up . . . and still conserve, conserve, conserve.

No segue whatsoever here, but we've got the dogs on a 100% venison diet right now, and they LOVE it. We have a "2nd son" staying with us - a Yellow Lab the size of a donkey - and he's lovin' the meat, too. And, since the venison was free, save our time, we're saving a bit of money. The preparation (time) is noticeable to me, though. Instead of just scooping up a cup each of dry dogfood morning and night, I now grind enough meat for the 3 of them each morning from the meat I took out of the freezer the night before. Then, in the late afternoon, I take enough meat out of the freezer again for both the dinner portion and the next morning's allotment. Morning and night, I grind enough for them all. [Lost battery power here.]

Gauche to Apologize

I recently learned that it is gauche / poor Internet etiquette to apologize for not having posted a blog entry in a while. So, perish the thought that I be anything less than mannerly (!), on I will plod . . . with no apology for my lack of posts lately. ;)

While packing up after the art festival last Saturday, I proclaimed to my fellow artisans that "I'm going to take tomorrow off, and THEN, beginning on Monday, I am . . . GOING. TO. GET. ORGANIZED." Yeah, well, it's Wednesday night (Thursday morning, technically), and this is the first I've felt "organized" enough to get my thoughts sorted out to even begin to write anything legible! And then, I just a few minutes ago realized, as I was blissfully thinking about how I could stay up as late as I wanted to tonight - updating the blog or whatever - because I had all day tomorrow (until a 5:00 appointment) to "get organized" . . . that I have to have a birthday present made for a party on Saturday, my cookie bake ingredients list together, AND the whole house cleaned BEFORE the cookie bake starts at 8:00 AM Saturday morning. And I'll be tied up all day Friday. That leaves me from now until 4:30 tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and I'm supposed to get a decent night's sleep in there somewhere. So much for getting organized. At this point, it's still Running Around Putting Out The Proverbial Fires.

Sigh.

We got buckets of snow this afternoon and evening. So much so that plowing our 4 miles out to the main road plus the driving conditions ON the main road made us 1/2 an hour late to our 5:30 dinner date. But, arrive safe and sound, we did. We had a wonderful time. These friends are a young couple just starting out in life. They are a modern version of a quintessentially traditional couple from 100 years ago. Does that make any sense? They're innocent, but not in a naive way. They're eager to learn, they're eager to share their lives. They want to do things "the right way". Treat others like you would (like to) be treated, and all that rot. They're just . . . I don't know how to explain it. Just REALLY sweet young people.

Anyway, homemade pizza made in their 1940s (?) era combi-fire wood cookstove was followed by blueberry pie fresh from the oven. M-m-good!!! Outside, their multiple decks (think 1950's single-level "getaway cabin") were snow-covered, the evergreen boughs and white Christmas lights shining out from underneath. It really looked like a fairy tale.


Their first "baby" is Abby. She's just about 16 weeks old now. Tom and I wanted to take her home. She is ADORABLE! And, SUCH a good dog! Already! She didn't even bark ONCE . . . the entire night. Not even when we arrived! They are such good dog parents - they'll have "real" kids down in a snap! :)


What a tangent! Didn't mean for my post to be all about them! It was just a really lovely night, though.

Driving home in the still blowing & falling snow made for another time-consuming trip. We put it into 4-wheel drive for the whole drive home (vs. just for plowing) - it was slippery. We had almost-completely-concealed tracks to follow for the first 6 miles, but then they turned off, and it was just blank road ahead. I had to slow to nearly complete stops more than once due to the blowing snow that blinded me. I couldn't see a thing! Three times on the way out - plowing our 4 mile "winter driveway" - Tom had to get out to scrape the ice off the windshield. One the way home, even on the main road, he had to do it once.

I dropped the blade and plowed on the way in tonight, too, of course. In some places, you could hardly tell that we'd plowed only hours before!

Tom was riding Shotgun tonight and gave me a huge compliment when we got home, telling me that I did a great job plowing. :) I must be a real Northwoods Woman if THAT'S what tickles my fancy, but it was great to hear a manly man say that to me. And, because I truly love plowing so much, I am the #1 (most frequent) plower in the family. I just have to remember to stay off the road this coming Monday, though: for the past two years, I have gone into the ditch each December 15th! Hmph, WHAT'S up with that?!

Before Saturday's annual Cookie Bake, we wanted to get the dining room ceiling insulated. The master bathroom is directly above it, and it's a bit . . . well . . . less-than-pleasant when one is sitting at the table while another 'one' is using the facilities directly above you . . . with not much sound barrier. You get the idea.


So, I pulled nearly everything out of the dining room this morning so that Tom could insulate. (Insulating is SUCH a yucky job, poor guy! I noticed during dinner that the skin all around his eyes was red and puffy. [Of course, he wouldn't wear protective glasses or a mask.]) Anyway, he went great guns and, after finishing the diningroom, continued on to the center sitting area and the foyer! Now, those three big areas are nearly ALL insulated! Know what that means? Sand, sand, sanding for me after the first of the year. I'll sand the tongue and groove (for the ceiling) out in the (now insulated!) garage, and then we can have real ceilings downstairs! (What a concept!)

Okay, my lids are growing heavy, and it's 12:52 AM. Time for my heating pad and bed.