Sunday Quotes

I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies,

they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime.
~Will Rogers
though this link will take you to winter nudist attire.
(link is rated M)


Saturday sky last Saturday...


and my dead ice field.
i dump the ice just outside the door.
(there is a few more blocks now).
have lost 2 water dishes and a bucket this year already.
another bucket is frozen deep in the ice.



Hugo relaxing in the hallway.

Tweedledum scratching Holly's back.

sometime in this next week i will be
posting images of all projects started and
finished in January.

this blog was supposed to be
updated on Sunday
but the comp crashed in the middle.

So Thing 2 doesn't live here anymore.
therefor his bedroom is in dire need
of being mucked out.
There is some serious funk odor
emanating from the room.

First step: Remove all shoes- esp. 2 pairs of wrestling shoes. Nope.
Second step: wash all laundry- 4 pillows, 2 comforters and sleeping bag. Nope.
Third step: clean mattress- wasn't the bed blue and white? now it is brown.
Steps to cleaning mattress:
first: lightly spray with vinegar and cold water mixture,
blot with paper towels.
Open window to air out room- vinegar is powerful smelly.
Second: stand up on end to dry both sides of mattress.
Third: after airing put bed back together and liberally sprinkle with baking soda.
Allow soda to sit
then vacuum.

While mattress is airing,
vacuum up debris under bed.
what is that burning smell?
oh well continue cleaning.
put bed back together and generously apply baking soda.
(did you know that with enough baking soda in the air
it can be tasted?)
now to vacuum the closet...
what is burning?
uh oh bad sound from vacuum.
black stuff underneath vacuum.
take apart... nope not the belt.
how in the world did i burn up the beater bar?
now to replace bar, 7 to 10 days shipping.
Cool. but i still have soda all over the mattress.
now what?
hmm...
shop vac.
plug it in and turn it on.
aw bugger it!
whoever used it last did not remove water.
it smells like mildew.
oh well can't be to bad.
proceeded to remove soda from mattress,
then finished the room,
behind bookcases, dressers and door.
then looked down hallway.
I will just get the hay while i have this out.
oh lookie at all the black dog hair.
finally stop cleaning.
DH comes in and says:
"What is that smell? it stinks in here".
now to air out the whole house.
thankfully it is about 30 F outside.

So to get funk smell out of one room,
we went to vinegar,
burning plastic,
mildew.
best one of all of those was the vinegar.
yes there were little melted bits of plastic in my carpet
they were removed w/scissors.

Lowbush Moose Project weekly update

Tot and Hugo
first snow
2009

Tweedles -African goose (female)
in the first snow



Winter quarters
for the small livestock.

we have run an extension cord
from the studio to the coop.
the light stays on for 14 hrs
unless the temps are subzero
(which we already have had -15 F)
the light stays on for 24 hrs.
and at that time we had some really confused
chickens. they were laying at 8 pm
Buffy was crowing at 11:30 pm.

going left to right:
small brooder pen,
chicken coop,
Sarge's pens,
lily, eyebrownie and Cinnabun's pens.

Winter quarters for the Tweedles
(will be used in summer as a greenhouse)
double lined visqueen hut with an
igloo dog house for the super cold nights.

Sarge

Lily and Eyebrownie
(these 2 escaped their pen
and ran around the yard
all night! Caught them after
they decided to check out the geese pen)





Cinnabun



and now an update about Thankful:
he was the most delish bird we have ever had.
didn't look pretty but was good.
cooked him in a bag, breast side down,
slathered in olive oil with a herb rub.

Princess was home for Thanksgiving.
DM came over and an early dinner was served.

serious update was neeeded!

well this is a much needed update.
what almost killed this blog
was the stupid farming games
over on Facebook.
they are major addicting.

so the animals.....
are all quite well
lets see what i've got...

eggs!
Celia laid the blue one (this is one of her first eggs)
Houdini laid the big white one
and unknown who lays what.

sadly no pics of Little Britches are on the comp.
he got mean and became roast chicken.
leaving Buffy the only rooster.

this is BAR the night before he met
with the knife.

we now only have 10 chickens
2 geese and 4 rabbits.
We got snow on November 9 2009
up until then it was nice, frosty.
The horses are gone as well.
Patches could be found over on Craigslist.

The geese are having a bit of trouble
last night it was -7 F.
There is very little info out
on the internet about
raising African Geese through
a winter.




And finally Tot all dressed up for
Halloween trick or treating.
(it was on the chilly side).



thank you all for sticking with me.

more critters

today got more chickens.

these are layers
and now animal count is 19.



the geese don't like sharing quarters with
the new chickens so i engineered
something for them tonight.
during the day they free range now.
DH about grossed out when he saw
the new chickens rooting around under
the rabbit hutch.
I then closely watched one chicken,
and it had discovered a cornucopia of worms.
guess the soil there is excellent.

weekly pic of Thankful
and roosters
(the hole in the corner is from Hugo).

we got hail.
the ground was white.

Monday update

Lowbush Moose Project
somewhat weekly shot.
the big white bird is the turkey
and all the others are sleeping under the rabbits.
very hygienic.
(bumpkins did think ewww... when
one of the bunnies peed on a chicken).

well i had a week off of work
and i played at home.
obviously i didn't blog or read blogs.
didn't finish my garden either.

Tuesday we decided it was a nice enough day
so lets go to the beach.
it was cold and windy.
Hugo didn't like the water to much.
(until we started throwing things in it for him).
and then these guys decided to get a close up of Hugo.
Stellar Sea Lions.
(we leashed up Hugo quickly
and didn't let him go play with these guys).

Wednesday it was nice 70+ F
DH had a gig at a Wednesday market
Bumpkins and I tagged along.
got slightly burned- color of almost magenta.

Princess came home on Thursday.
We had a nice visit.
Q brought over her rabbit Stormy
for us to bunnysit until August.

Saturday Not Lily was traded for
Cinnabun (2 year old doe)
ummm i hypnotized her for this photo.

Sunday was another Sunny day
so DM, Hugo, Bumpkins and I
decided a round of croquette was in order.
(playing croquette with a dog that fetches balls i
Finished knitting this up using recycled yarn
from a tshirt.
potholder anyone?

Strange Stuff Tuesday and Blogiversary

(above a self portrait)

realized last night that today
was my 2 year blogiversary.
And for some unknown reason
I really don't feel like celebrating.

But a big thank you
to all who have read this
and commented.


And for some of you...
this will seem wrong.
mulled beer
and interesting read
the history of
mulled beer.

please let me know if you
decide to try this one.
will be very interested in the
results.

And there I bid you
all good night.

And if the above isn't strange enough
tonight there was freezing rain and temps of 31 F.
Last week at this time it was -30 F.
Very extreme weather we are having.

Have started another set of swim lessons out at the pool. tomorrow there will be 4 sets for me to teach. And on Thursday 4 sets of lessons then water aerobics.

Random Website Monday

Today was a hard day on the snow people population.......
A very busy day at the bird feeder.
We had Boreal Chickadees, Black capped Chickadees
Nuthatches.....
and this guy.

While I was airing out the house....
Athena discovered the bird feeder too.

The baby booties that will fit a 12 mos. not
3-6 mos like the pattern said.
(Athena was interested in what I was doing..
probably looking for catnip).

Knitting: Many more rows on DM's sock.
Sewing: Altered a shirt for DH's coworker. DH said he couldn't even tell where the repair was made. So I am charging $15.00. That'll pay for some new bobbins. And the rest goes into a piggy bank for Crafts. Need more knitting needles.... need more yarn.... need more material.... need time to do these things!

Anyone notice the clean tabletop the booties are sitting on? Well the sewing machine table got cleared off tonight as well. Put away patterns, threw mittens away that didn't quite make a mitten. Also found the pattern for Bumpkins cardigan so now the sleeves can be started.

Random Website: The snowman website.. Yes the "man" has a site of his own!

Random Website Monday

Bumpkin's now knows that,
Birdies say "chickadeee".
A black capped chickadee at the bird feeder.
(Note: that some of the dirt in our drive is visible!)You know that you have been blogging to much...
When your child makes a camera out of blocks.

Here is a better shot of her camera.
(She is taking a picture of ME!)

Knitting: went to Knitting tonight, was only gone about an hour. Good to get out and just relax. Need to knit another 1.5 inches on Bumpkins cardigan than I can start the sleeves. It is being made a size 2 in width but a 4 in length.

When I brought Bumpkins down to bed, there was an odoriferous smell emanating from somewhere in the room. After much searching (Athena has a history of placing dead rodents under the beds), the conclusion was made that the smell was the coming from the sink drain. Easy fix- pour water down the drain and the smell vanishes.

Random website: I found this site while looking for free sewing patterns. Vogue 1947-1957.. be sure to check out the shoes from the exhibition.

Remember April's First is April Fools day... what mischief are you planning? me none.. I think ;)

Weather: warm and in the high 30's F.

Random Website Monday

And this is why I couldn't take Bumpkin's outside on Sunday. Moose bedded down beside the driveway.

And this is a cat neck pillow- made for Bumpkin's. She doesn't like it and wants to give it to Sissy.

Details: Simplicity Crafts 5310
1/2 yard 45" wide pink plush knit
Backed w/ recycled pink flannel heart receiving blanket.
Pain to make, easy once you got past the face and the darts. 4 hrs. to make.

Since I haven't posted a picture of DH's scarf for awhile.. here it is.
The ruler is 24 inches long, so the scarf isn't even 30 inches yet. I keep pulling out the needles and have to reknit a row or more. Need stoppers on the ends so that this doesn't happen again.

You Belong in 1983

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Random Website: And if you find yourself w/some time on your hands this site will suck all of your life out of you.

Thank you to everyone for the Birthday wishes.

Saturday Surprises

And here is today Sky picture. Yes there are clouds finally- that means the Siberian Blast is gone. (Sad to say folks, but the front is going to move across the Western Continent - Canada and the Northern States- and give you guys some cold air and more WINTER).


Went to take Bumpkin's outside to play as the temps have finally warmed up. And this is what I saw running down the drive. (Actually there are 2 of them only got one in the pic.)


A close up of what was running down the driveway. (Got another closeup, but it was extremely blurry. Difficult to stick arm out of door and push camera button when moose is running past about 5 ft. away).




This guy decided to sample the honeysuckle bush on his way to join his buddies in the backyard.







This picture was taken just before the 3rd moose decided to go into the backyard. Much more snow and the fences won't stop them at all! (Even though there is barb wire across the top and the fences are about 6 ft. high).





Last week was a little busy at work. There was a training for most of the Senior Staff at work, I was unable to attend. So that meant poor old me was made Supervisor for 7 hrs. Water Aerobics dropped down to 8 people (that is so sad- must have worked people way to hard.)
Took Bumpkin's swimming on Friday, she did so much better! I got to swim 5 laps (very hard to do Breaststroke and push a floatie ahead of you on each stroke). Had a co-worker give me an interesting compliment last night. She asked if I was losing weight. I said "trying". Her reply was "I look good and appear to have lost weight". This is 2 days after I consumed 4 doughnuts in one day.

ETA: Lynn asked what does *warmed* up mean? Well I won't take Bumpkins out in anything under 10 degrees above 0 F. And today it was almost 10- didn't check after seeing the moose in the yard though.

Sunny Saturday!

Doggers... had to go find a new home. Bumpkin's was distraught, Doggers gone! Doggers was to hyper for us, the last straw was this morning when Thing 2 got up around 8 and by 9:30 Doggers still was inside. He didn't take her out because no one told him to.













And if you look closer at these photos you can see the termination dust (otherwise known as snow!) Winter is coming closer.


Knitting: nothing did join a cool sock contest over at Jane's blog. Now to decide on what patterns and to find the yarn for DM's Christmas present- of 2 pairs of hand knitted socks.

Today was the decisive game of the season, Kenai was annihilated final score 46- 0 (or something like that.)