The Bewitching Hour

Good morning!  I'm in a particularly good mood this day.  Dunno why, particularly since I lost a GOOSE yesterday!  

How much weight can an eagle carry?  Well, apparently the weight of a full-grown goose.  Un-freakin'-believable.  I looked online, and there are videos of eagles going after small mountain goats, wolves, foxes, and fawns.  At a dead stop, they can carry only about half their weight, but, if the wind is right and the prey is on an open hillside . . . they can swoop away with MUCH more.  (How big does this "open hillside" need to be?  Again, apparently my poultry yard - at 60' x 60' and on a bit of a hill - qualifies.)  Mama & Papa Pea are butchering today, and I was going to bring in two of these geese, but now?  Forget it.  I need to hang on to what I can.  And, unless I get just of couple of chickens which will remain INSIDE the chicken house this winter, Chicken Mama ain't getting any more poultry until the (poultry) yard goes through a SEVERE remodel.

The ex and I spent a full day together yesterday, our first since the divorce was finalized.  (Our trips to Duluth to meet with lawyers in the midst of it all don't qualify as 'enjoyable' days, I don't think!)  He came out to do loads of roof work - dangerous roof work.  In the past when he'd worked on the roof (after falling off it and really banging himself up that once), he'd always worn his climbing gear and was roped off, but it was neat watching him do the same yesterday - except in a MUCH more comprehensive manner.  It's amazing what one learns climbing Denali!  ;)  Point being, it was nice to watch him doing the work in a much more . . . what's the word . . . competent . . . fashion.  Cheers to him!

Some of you may remember that, the same day Tom was moving out back in January, we discovered that the roof portion of the Kalamazoo chimney (the stove in the middle room of the house) was G-O-N-E.  A BIG, wet snow load had taken it right off the roof, and the snow was so deep at the side of the house there that the heavy chimney had buried itself when it fell.  Both of us wiping away tears, we'd put a temporary patch over the hole.  For obvious reasons, I had bigger concerns that spring but, as the temps began to drop this fall, I knew I wanted the repair work done.  And, now it is!  Tom replaced and trussed the chimney up with two supports that are screwed through the insulated roof and into the beams of the timberframe house below.  NOW if the chimney goes, it's takin' the entire roof with it!  ;)

That same snow melt last winter also ripped out two of the four screws holding the Yagi (phone) antennae in place, causing in to point right down into the roof.  I'm actually amazed that I kept receiving a signal!  That, too, was repaired in the same fashion (super duper long screws that are over a foot in length), and I should be good to go!

Then, we got the rechargeable battery replaced in the rooftop weather station and, finally, Tom reconnected a portion of the 2nd story zinc gutter downspout and screwed that in place.  It was a full day of much-needed work done, and I'm ever so appreciative!

Oh, and what did I do all day?  I was the go-fer.  And ladder holder.  Until we realized he'd be up there for HOURS.  Then, when I was inside vacuuming once during a length of time when Tom wouldn't be needing anything, I heard a massive crash.  Oops:  a wind gust had gotten the h-e-a-v-y ladder, and DOWN it went!  Amazingly, it didn't take out any windows on the way down nor even seem to damage the deck railing it landed on.  Lucky, lucky!  So, the ladder stayed down until Tom was ready to descend after hours in the cold, biting wind.  (At least it was a sunny, sunny day.)  I was exhausted last night, and I didn't "do" anything!  I can't imagine how HE felt!


Then, the ex and I went to Bundle of Joy's house for dinner.  My folks and I had long-standing plans to be there last night, but Mama Pea's fighting a bit of a bug, and she didn't want to subject Bundle of Joy to it . . . nor have to restrict her baby-time because of it!  But, when Bundle of Joy's mama and daddy heard that Tom was going to be here for the day, they insisted that he and I both come for supper.  And, believe me, that food tasted GOOD after a hard day's work!  It was a lovely end to the day, and both Tom and I are SO glad that we can still enjoy each other's company . . . AND the company of friends . . . when we're together.  Despite a little bit of ugliness during the course of the divorce, one can hardly ask for more.


Because I was here at home yesterday, a normal in-office day for me, I'll spend some time in town today, both helping my folks with their butchering and getting some work done.  That AND welcoming a couple of my most favorite little trick-or-treaters when they stop in at the office.  :)


What are YOUR plans for Halloween?  BOO!

Broken Record

I feel like I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. I'm tired. I'm "behind". I need to get caught up. Hmph. Bitch, bitch, moan, moan. Blah, blah.

So, what can I do to change things? Well, getting more sleep would probably help a lot. Going to bed at 1:20 AM does not make Weslie a happy girl, I've learned. (Come morning, anyway!) But, I'll blame that Wednesday night bedtime on my husband . . . who asked me to do some paperwork for him MUCH too late in the evening (thus pushing my right-before-bed-R&R time even later . . . resulting in the insane bedtime). Thursday night? Hmm, can't remember that far back. Friday night was a late one, too, if memory serves. Definitely more in the AM of Saturday than the PM of Friday when I hit the sack. 'Course, I didn't get home from my town day until 9:00 PM. Last night, I was in bed before midnight, but I slept badly - as I had the night before.

I had bad, horrible, yucky dreams last night - probably not helped by the DVD episodes of 'CSI' I've been ripping through during my previously mentioned right-before-bed-R&R. Also, my inexplicable fear of anything supernatural was awakened during the middle of the night last night when the dispatcher on the police scanner crackled a request for a patrol to drive to the west end of the county to investigate the eerie "flashing green and red light in the sky 40° degrees above the horizon" that SEVERAL folks had called in to report. Notice the insertion of the adjective 'eerie'? Did the dispatcher say that? Of course not. It's just that my half-awake / half-asleep mind instantly went there.

So, the bottom line? Go to bed earlier, don't listen to the scanner while trying to sleep, and don't watch so many episodes of 'CSI'! Duh.

I know my brain was a bit foggy pre-bedtime, too, last night from the massive quantities of chemical fumes I was sniffing. No, 'a bit foggy' is an understatement. A more accurate description would be that my head felt like it was gonna pop off and float around the kitchen!

About 8:00 PM last night, I decided to start painting and staining the kitchen. (Perhaps this is where my problems began - starting a project like that so late at night. But, hey, I AM a night-owl!)

Anyway, the kitchen has a fairly high, vaulted ceiling, and it is a room unto itself (vs. many which are open to the dining room or living room). So, any fumes created in the kitchen are generally fairly well trapped in that room. And, it was cold outside, so I couldn't (well, didn't) open the windows. But, I got the window trim on the window above the sink stained, and one quarter of another window stained. Then, I stained the cupboard Tom and I had made a couple of weeks (months now?!) ago. Next, I argued with the firmly stuck lid on the 5-gallon bucket of the treatment we put on the timbers until I finally gave up and gently shook it instead of stirring it. Then I poured some out of the pour-spout in the lid and treated the timbers. (We affectionately call this stuff 'Jesus Juice' 'cause the company that makes it is very religious and prints their doctrine on each pail of the stuff. A local who began using it way before we did coined the new name, and it's stuck!) Finally, I pulled out the 2 gallon bucket of sheetrock sealer / primer and mixed that up to paint all but the edges of two kitchen wall portions.

This morning, I hoped to get the primer onto the edges of those areas, but the 'Jesus Juiced' timbers were STILL STICKY!!! 'Course, with us not having fired up the wood furnace yet, it IS only 55° in the house! So now, as I sit in my office - my fingers FROZEN as I type - the kitchen is closed up with a toasty fire corkin' away in the cookstove. I just checked the timbers when I went in to get another cup of coffee, and they're still a little slimy . . . but I anticipate they'll dry as the day progresses (provided I keep that fire goin').

Pain in the . . . .

For me, today was a complete waste. I woke up with a headache that turned into a completely debilitating little number, and I spent 95% of the day on the couch upstairs. Finally, at about 8:30 tonight, it "broke" - much as a fever would. Thank goodness! It was a miserable day for me . . . and somewhat miserable for Tom since he jumped to the worst of conclusions and worried about me all day!

In between his worrying, though, Tom layed the rock on the tops of both sides of the front entrance - 56 square feet, all tolled. I'm SO happy with how that is shaping up - it's really going to be the perfect "entrance". Good thing, too, since that ain't goin' ANYWHERE now!

We're having a weird late-season outbreak of blackflies. They were pestering Tom during his woodworking on Thursday and then again today. And, that's in the open areas! I'm not sure what they'd be like right in the woods. Yuck. Not that I'm encouraging the arrival of the first frost, but if that takes care of 'em . . . ! (The coldest we've had so far is 37 degrees, in case you were wondering.)

My folks went to the local dairy farm this past week and drove through the fields loading freshly baled hay . . . except it turned out to be, mostly, straw. Oh, well, it will get used. They and we split the order, and Tom and I brought home all but the last three bales (that we couldn't fit) last night. Here's a shot of Tom - out bright and early this morning - unloading the pickup.


Okay, I'm gonna sign off. My headache's coming back. Is it 'cause I'm concentrating on the computer screen or because I actually felt like eating something and did (corn flakes)!? Hmmm . . . .

Saturday Morning Tired

I'm tired. T-I-D-E "tiiiide".

Tom got home last night from a couple of days in the Cities for training with some of his staff and some others from work. They had a late-season snowstorm Thursday night that made driving a bit messy and slow yesterday morning . . . about 4-6" of heavy, wet snow, I think he said. Here at home, we are still very firmly ensconced in winter - despite Thursday being the first day of spring. I'll post some pictures (illustrating that) later.

The house is an ABSOLUTE disaster. I kid you not. It's bugging the heck out of me, but I either haven't had the time nor energy (yet) to get to it. I'm still not supposed to vacuum, and it seems that I forget to nab Tom for the job when he's around. But, by hook or by crook, SOME improvements will be made today 'cause I simply can't function in it the way it is any longer!

















I did an abbreviated "town day" Thursday afternoon. And, it being Easter time (doesn't it seem REALLY early this year??), there were extra eggs to deliver to my customers for coloring. So, in preparation for the deliveries, I washed and packed 9 (that's nine!) dozen eggs that morning! I saved all the lightest colored ones for the folks who wanted to hard boil and dye them. Even though the deep brown ones are beautiful, they certainly don't take on much of a hue when colored. The picture I've posted here is of a cool little egg anomaly. I think the "bumps" are a concentrated calcium deposit from the formation of the shell.

One exciting upcoming project I haven't yet had a chance to write about it is the semi-permanent greenhouse we're going to put up this spring! Here's the background to the story: we've always had plans to put up a real (glass & perhaps Victorian style) greenhouse . . . probably somewhere near the barn (or, more to the point, where the barn will go). We've also had plans to put in a field garden across from the pond. The greenhouse project was going to wait a couple of years, but I wanted to get the field garden started this spring/summer. Buuuut, after some discussions about all these plans - and taking into consideration all the other things that need to be done around here (and should, perhaps, have a higher priority) - and the fact that I'm still recovering from being sick for a couple of years . . . Tom talked me into NOT starting the field garden this summer. But, the fact remains that I need garden space. Enter the compromise: the "first" greenhouse.

We'll build it off the front side of the chicken house, using that (outside) wall of the chicken house as the back wall of the greenhouse. It will be 14' wide (the width of the chicken house) by 10 feet deep. The height will be 8' (the height of the front of the chicken house) with a shed roof dropping down to 5' to help the snow slide off in the winter. And, besides serving as an actual greenhouse, the space will perform a double duty: helping keep the chicken house warmer in the winter months! So, that's one of the main reasons I can't WAIT for the snow to melt so that we can start construction! (I took this picture last Saturday, the 15th, from the pub balcony [upstairs of the garage]. It will provide a great location to document the greenhouse construction!)

5 August 2007

The first side goes up. They got three sides finished that day, and now we need to get the door end and the top on. Then, the hives can move in!

5 August 2007

My mom checked out the height of the bee hive enclosure from the top of the 8' (or is it 10'?) ladder . . . reminding me that I did the same thing when I was two years old and they "lost" me while painting the house back in Illinois. Apparently I was happily sitting on top of the high ladder giggling down at them once they found me. Hee hee hee.

5 August 2007

Behind the sea of Lamb's Quarter that will be the barnyard (I've been working on mowing it down and feeding it to the chickens) is my dad working on the apiary.

5 August 2007

My folks came out the afternoon of August 5th, and Tom and Dad got a great start on the apiary (bee hive yard) enclosure. Up here, in bear country, bee hives have to be surrounded (sides AND top) either by electric fencing or EXTREMELY strong and heavy-duty metal fencing.

Here's an action shot of one of the upright pole supports being pounded into the ground.

16 June 2007

I know this picture doesn't "look like much", but it is a shot of two of the fabulous Arts and Crafts-style interior doors Tom has been building! The shot is taken in the entrance foyer . . . I'm standing in my office door looking across the hall. The door on the left leads to the utility room, and the door on the right enters into the downstairs bathroom. If you made a 90 degree turn to the left, you'd be standing in front of the front door.

16 June 2007

We've been living La Vida Loco lately (NOT by choice), and so I haven't had the chance (or, quite frankly, energy) to post any pictures recently. Matter of fact, it's been some time since Tom's had a chance to work on the slate walkways, too, so they remain - for the time being - unfinished.

That in-construction state always causes an interesting game of Russian Roulette on the nights that we return home after dark and have to pick our way from the garage to the house without tripping over and breaking an ankle on some large, unplaced piece of slate thrown hither or thither. And that's not even to mention the five empty holes in the front yard still waiting for me to get trees planted in them. Hmph - I guess that all sounds kinda dangerous (and a little stupid), doesn't it?

28 May 2007

In-progress construction of the raised-bed flower garden off the end of the kitchen.

27 May 2007

Tom's work on the front walk made of slate continues. It's slow, tedious, HARD work . . . but it looks SO PRETTY! This shot is taken from out the front entrance/door.

Say "CHEESE!"

Well, I know it requires some explanation, but I am extremely proud of this.

But, what IS this?

This is cheese. Homemade mozzarella cheese. I've always wanted to make cheese and finally took time to attack the project! It was a lot of work, and I hope the job will go quicker the next time. ("First times" always seem to take longer when you don't know what you're doing, don't they?)

I think that, once we have our own cow, it will turn into a cost-effective thing because we'll have so much free excess milk. But, for now - when I'm buying raw milk for $5/gallon, the financial turn-around (adding in my time) ain't great. I got two small wheels (3" across?) from one gallon of milk . . . plus a good deal of fresh buttermilk. But, we don't drink enough buttermilk (any?!) or make enough buttermilk pancakes for that by-product to really be worthwhile. Although, it's reportedly GREAT for plants (I've been pouring it around the new landscaping trees out from), and, of course, the chickens love it! So, it does not go to waste.

12 May 2007

While the roof was being worked on, Tom continued with his "Slate Detail" . . . taking a break from the front entrance walk (which is looking gorgeous, by the way) to build steps down to the bird feeders off the boardwalk (which connects the two decks and runs parallel to the diningroom and livingroom of the house).

6 May 2007

Here's Tom in his trusty steed of a Man Truck hauling another section of the White Pine home. Since this one is punky in the middle, it will probably be used for firewood - unless any amount of the outer perimeter can be milled for lumber.

This tree was located right on the edge of our property along the road, and it - considerately - fell nearly ON the road. So, skidding it home was a breeze!

6 May 2007

We had a massive windstorm in November of 2005 during which we lost this huge White Pine. I was working up at the property by myself, and I happened to be up in the trapper cabin having lunch when the extreme winds hit. The winds were so strong that the cabin was shaking. Then, I heard two gunshot sounds, back to back, and knew that some huge tree had gone down. It wasn't until I was driving out towards home (still Hastings-on-the-Lake then) that I saw which tree it was. It broke our hearts to see the behemoth broken, but, conversely, it felt good to be able to salvage it (finally!) for lumber last weekend.

Here is Tom, cutting the best section off to drag home to the area where we'll put the sawmill.

6 May 2007

It's hard to mentally concentrate with the forest fire raging, but I'll write about that later.

We had another wonderfully productive weekend - aside from me battling a little bug that slowed me down a titch. Tom has been doing an amazingly beautiful job laying out the slate for the front walk and landscaping. This is the start of it, off the front steps (which still have to be finished with stone, themselves).

6 May 2007

Landscaping was the main order of the day. Tom's been hauling slate after work, and I got trees and shrubs when I was in Duluth last week. Here we are, trying to put it all together!

6 May 2007

Today was a beautiful Sunday - although too dry and windy, as usual - and Tom and I (and ALL the hairy kids) spent the day outside doing yard work. If you look, you can see Miss Kitty taking the alpha position on the 4-wheeler . . . surveying her domain.

29 April 2007

When the organic dirt from a local farm was loaded into the back of the truck, it looked like a lot of dirt! But, once Tom had it unloaded into a pile in the yard . . . it looked like not-so-much dirt! Funny how that happens . . . !