what is this???

two weeks ago today... the world looked like this... everything coated in a thick blanket of ice... and we were without electricity (for 5 days)... temps in the 20's, winds blowing...

Last Sunday, the world looked like this... blowing snow, almost blizzard conditions.. leaving us with 15 inches of the white stuff and cancelling many Christmas plans.....

Today, the world looked like this... NO MORE SNOW... temps in the high 50's!!!! and I am ground driving a horse in my sweatshirt...

is winter over!!!??????

"wishful thinking!!!"

hennys... hennys....

My guinea hens have been my "tragic-joy".. I never really liked birds, I appreciate them, but never liked them. I like seeing the birds fly about the field on a summer's eve, I like hearing birds singing in the morning, I appreciate fresh eggs, and bug control, but for me and birds, that's about it. UNTIL my guinea hens... now you all know about Ed and I trying to wrangle them in at night... trying to get them out of tall pine trees, making sure that they are safe from hunters of the night... and the fact that I am down to five of the seven... makes me pretty protective of them. Well, on the 23rd... two of my hens actually spent the night outside. For the most part, they stay in now, they don't like the snow, but that day, two went out, and somehow couldn't figure how to get back inside. The last I saw of them was in a tall pine... since I have been thru this before with one or two of them... I simply gave up and hoped they would make it thru the night.

The next morning (Christmas eve day)... one hen had at least found her way to the top of a closer tree. The hens inside kept calling to her, but she would only answer back and not attempt to get out of the tree. I don't know if she didn't want to be in the snow, or she didn't know where her friends were... but I ended up shooing the three outside, and when she saw them... she flew from the tree and joined them. This of course, still left one outside, but the day was bright and sunny and I figured she would eventually come in. During the afternoon, we began to get rain... and then the wind began to blow. Christmas eve we ended up having quite a storm, the wind blew very strong (enough to knock the power out for five hours!!!) and I was quite certain that the one lone guinea hen would be blown away.

Christmas morning when I checked in at the barn, Betty said she thought she had heard a hen outside somewhere, and when we opened up the stall doors, there she was. I couldn't believe she had made it thru the wild night!!!! I was pretty happy to see her.

Today, Ed and I came up with a way of fencing the henny's in their stall. It meant taking chicken wire and closing off the top of the stall, so they can't fly out. It was a difficult job!!! but we managed to do it. Beside from being able to completely lock them in, it will also help keep the barn cleaner... they are birds, and you know they don't care where or when they poop... so they have made a big of a mess. I feel much better tonite knowing that I can (for the most part) control them, or at least once I get them in their stall, they'll stay there.

I'm not sure they're so happy about it... but... too bad!!!!!

and so it is Christmas....

If the truth were to be told, I was actually "dreading" Christmas a little this year. There have been so many changes this past year, and not being in "my" house for the holidays, I really wondered "how I would do with that". Please don't misunderstand me, I love being on our farm (well almost on our farm) and I am beyond thrilled that Kas and Nate now live here, and not only do we see them often, I don't have to worry about them making that long trip back to North Carolina..... and as much as I try to tell myself that "I handle change well"... I don't!!! But I am happy to report that Christmas was just wonderful.

The day started out with Betty calling me from the barn (because we were running late and hadn't gotten that far!!!) to say that she had all the horses fed and mucked out!!!! She said it was a Christmas present to herself to spend time with the horses and a have few quiet moments in the barn. Not only was that a wonderful surprise, but it caught us back up on time!!! We then went to Kassy's and Nate's for Christmas breakfast with the family. This is something that Ed and I had been doing for the past 20 or so years, so it was so nice to have the same tradition.

I was able to hang the kids stockings by the fireplace, as I have always done, and just being "home" felt really good. We opened gifts together with the kids and the Flagg's.. and just had a "non-rushed" morning together.

From there, we went to my parent's house to visit with them and my sister's and nieces... again, a tradition that we have done for many years. The kids came with us and visited for awhile before going onto other extended family's homes.

My Mom has been collecting Santa's for many years, this is a picture of part of her collection. It takes her a whole day to get them all out and set up!!!

And what is Christmas without kids. Well, we have kids, but they are all big now, so it is just wonderful to have our little niece, Naomi, to spoil and watch. Being just 2, she really didn't "get it" this year, but we spoiled her just the same.

When she arrived with my sister, she was sound asleep, so Rachel laid her down on the bed. But after an hour or so, we just had to wake her up to open gifts!!!! (meanies!!).... I am sure my sister would have been just as happy to have her napping, but we couldn't stand that!!!! Fortunately, she had enough sleep that she woke up happy and was ready to open her gifts.

I am glad to see this "child being brought up right!!!" She got a "my little pony" as a gift and fell in love with "her" right away. I asked her if she was named Mocha, but Naomi quickly said..."NO, auntie Sue... it's my little pony!!!"... oh well, I tried!!!I told her to bring her pony up to visit Mocha and she said.."ok, I will"....

After that, it was time to think about heading home. The day had zipped by for me, but I had doggies waiting at home, and horses waiting to be brought in... and in both cases, I am sure it was a long day for all of them. So home we came, got everyone "taken care of" and spent the evening quietly together. A nice ending for a very nice day. And I can't help but think of next year, and the idea that we will be in the new house and settled in on the farm....I hate to say it, but it will be here before I know.

Christmas eve surprise....

Christmas eve, we are so blessed to be able to spend it with family!!! Tonite we went to the Flagg's and had a grand meal with Deb, Dave, Lauren, Sean, Kassy, Nate, Bill and Ed and I. It was so much fun just being together, enjoying each other's company and the anticipation of Christmas.

After dinner, Dave wanted all of us to come out to his shop and see the "new toy he was working on"... so, nothing doing, we bundled up against the weather (raining) and headed out to his shop...

What was there put me right into tears and left me speechless for many minutes....











A BEAUTIFUL WAGON!!! Painted in "John Deere colors" with the words... Sweetgrass Farm and Ed's and mine names painted on the side!!!

A wagon that can be pulled by horse power or tractor power!!!!

Even as I try to write this blog... my mind is just spinning!!! I can't even begin to say thank you to Dave!!! (Nate, Sean, Bill and the rest of the family) for such a wonderful, thoughtful..... talented gift!!!!

I can't wait to hitch Duke and/or Tonka up and try it out!!! I can't wait for future hay rides!!!!

I only hope reading this blog and the next will make some sense, because I am still so excited, that I probably am not thinking straight...

but, I wanted to get this posted as soon as possible!!!!

speechless!!!!!

You can't really appreicate our beauitful wagon until you see this post!!! THIS is what our wagon started out as!!!! An old wagon, that had been left to rot in the woods.... Dave was asked if he could haul it off... and from this "eye sore"... he created our wagon!!!!

Talk about a dimond in the rough!!! Now, I have seen things go from looking like this to items that are amazing... but the fact that Dave (and "crew") did it in such a short amount of time.....as Deb said when Dave dragged this home..."you'll have it done by THIS Christmas???" and hours of labor and love... he did!!!!

On Thanksgiving, Dave shows Kas his "game plan"

Sean and Nate put many hours into it as well... Sean did the welding, Nate did painting and woodworking!!!!

The tires came from brother Bill... off one of his antique trucks (that now has a new set of tires)... and the lettering was done by a friend of Bill's...who is "officially" retired but came out to do the work as a favor to Bill

And if you have noticed the date on the photos.... it was just finished up yesterday!!!!

I dare say, there will be many more stories about this wagon!!! and if Christmas isn't exciting enough... I probably won't sleep a wink tonite!!!!

thank you SO much Dave.... it's just way beyond words!!!!!!

Christmas carols......

I'm not sure if it's "We wish you a merry Christmas" or "Deck the Halls".... but it certainly ISN'T "Silent Night!!!"

one of my favorite days...

For many,many years, December 23rd has been one of my most favorite days of the year, the reason being is... Christmas is so very close, but hasn't quite begun. All the surprises, happenings and memories are yet to come, it's the "looking forward" day!!! My kids always thought this was a bit strange, but I think now that they are a bit older they can appreciate my thought behind it. We call it "the day before the day before..." and this morning both my girls made a point of contacting me to wish me a happy "day before the day before!!!"

Ed had an early morning doctor's appointment in York, so we were on the road first thing and decided to use the trip to finish up some errands in Portsmouth. He took me out to lunch (in celebration of "my" day) and we got our errands done. It was early afternoon before we were home again, and we needed to pop down to the farm to take care of the horses and check on the guys. As I pulled onto the property I could hear a saw running, but I noticed right away... another sound was MISSING!!!! NO generator!!! which could only mean one thing... we have REAL power!!! I ran over to check the meter and sure enough.... it was running!!!!! Finally!! I know the CMP guys have had a long trek with all the storms and such, but lugging water, banging out frozen buckets (that don't freeze when they are plugged in!!!) racing thru chores in the evening so you can still see... was getting old. Now, my dear friend Betty works for CMP in another department, and she took it on herself to do some snooping and see what the hold up was with our order. Basically, there wasn't any "real reason" why we hadn't been finished up, and she began to "squawk" at some of the higher ups for us. Ed was also calling and being a "polite pain in the neck"... and yesterday, we finally got an answer that we would have power by the 30th, maybe sooner. But, I am quite certain that because of Betty.... the "sooner" turned out to be today!!! I almost cried when I thought of what this means!!!! suddenly, barn chores have become almost easy. The horses took long drinks of semi warm water tonite, I fed with the lights on.... it was wonderful!!! A real present on my favorite day for sure!!!!

Then Ed told me to take a quick look at our chimney, and waiting there was the mantel.... all in place!!! It's called "blue stone", and it looks beautiful!!!

Ken and crew were working roof top again. The plan is to have roof framing the first of next week.

So, a number of wonderful Christmas gifts have arrived early for me....lights, mantel and almost roof... what more could I ask for??

OH... and in case you didn't notice... the daylight was one minute longer today!!!

perfect timing!!!!

We woke this morning with about 15 inches of snow!!!The wind was howling, but the sun was out, a good day for "cleaning up". I decided it was time to get my hat out....

I made this hat!!! I seldom make things for myself, but I just could not resist having a hat of my own. Last spring, I went to the wool festival with my friend Linda, it was great fun (hope to do it again next year!!!!) and I bought a few things. One was the pattern for this hat (which I wasn't so sure I could do, but obviously I can!!!) and the other was a beautiful skein of grey wool. Then as a gift, Linda gave me a skein of alpaca wool that came from her alpaca and that she had hand spun!!! So.. I thought I would "spoil" myself and make a special hat just for me!!!! I combined the wool with the alpaca wool!!! Not only was it GREAT fun to make, but it came out really well.... and talk about being warm!!! It was wonderful on day such as this!!! At first it felt so light weight that I wasn't sure how warm it would be... but it was very warm..... so, Ed has his "silly"hat.. I guess this one is my "silly hat"....

Now, my friend Barbara had asked me if I could come and help her when her Aussie Lula had her puppies... of course I said...SURE!!! Then I found out that the puppies were due around Christmas eve... yikes... we have so much going on, but I told Barbara to call me just the same, and if I could come I would. Well, first came the ice storm last weekend, and then two snowstorms this past weekend, and I worried that Barbara would be calling during one of those times... but she didn't.



She called me around 11:00 this morning, saying that she was pretty sure that Lula was beginning labor. I told her I would pop over (she only lives the in next town) but not to get too excited, because I have never delivered a litter of puppies during the day... they ALWAYS have them in the middle of the night. Well, when I got there, Lula was in "serious" labor!!!

What perfect timing.... no stormy weather to drive in, I was bright and "with it" because I had a good night of sleep, and plenty of daylight to see by..... Miss Lula was quick to boot!!! Her first puppy came at 1:15 and the last one somewhere around 5:00...... 7 beautiful Aussie puppies, five boys and two girls!!!!

This little chap is ready for a good meal... he is about 3 minutes old in this picture!!!!

Here's the proud Mama and her litter!!!

Babies all snugged in and enjoying their first meal and the first few hours of life...

now, that's a real Christmas gift......

bit of snow...

Our deck railing is about 36 inches high...






this is a picture of the thermometer yesterday afternoon.....

And here is it, about 10:00 pm tonite...

think we got a "bit of snow".........

changed the heading...

as much as I liked the air photo of the farm.. all that "green" doesn't seem to fit the bill ... so... now that I have figured out how to play with the heading... I think I will change it up every so often... this, by the way.. is Duke enjoying the first day of winter.

the first dayof winter...

Welcome "winter solstice".. the first "official" day of winter and the shortest day of the year... tomorrow the days will begin to lengthen!!! We are in the middle of a good old fashion snow storm, the second one within two days!!! Originally it was to begin around "mid afternoon", but the more I listened to the weather, the more it changed. As we were leaving for church, the snow was already falling.

Our Pastor said, "these are the days that you dream about when you are young.... the surprises of Christmas just moments away, the snow falling outside...." and to be honest with all of you, I spent almost as much time looking out the beautiful church windows as I did paying attention!!! I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help it... something about singing the Christmas carols and watching the snow fall, was simply magical.

We opened the barn and let the horses out while we were at church, on the way home, we stopped to do chores and bring everyone in. Not that they really wanted to be "in", but I felt better knowing that they would be safe and "warm" inside.

My camera lens fogged as I got out of the truck, but I thought this was a neat picture of "camp" just the same!!!!

This is what the field looked like tonite when we went back to feed supper. With the generator on, and lights in the barn.. it looks quite inviting on a snowy night.... (the shadows in the transom window are the guinea hens!!!)

So, with animals all taken care of, wood brought in for the stove, supper going on the other stove, Ed and I settle in for a snowy night and a good movie..... nice way to begin the winter season.......

real snow

This is what the barn looked like last night as I pulled away after tucking the horses into to bed for the night. We were in for a snowy evening and I am so blessed to know that my animals have such a great home to live in!!!

Winter "officially" begins tomorrow (did you know that it is also the shortest day of the year... after that, the daylight begin to increase!!!) But, seeing the snow that greeted us this morning... I think it came just a day early.... although, big storm predicted for tomorrow too...

welcome winter... might as well give it up and get used to the idea that you are here to visit!!!!

up on the housetop.....

"reindeer paws.. out jumps good ol' Santa Claus..." Well, dear Santa better not be planning on stopping on our roof top... because "we ain't got one!!!" However, the rafters arrived last week, and the guys, got them to the top of the house, and have begun to assemble them!!!

One thing I have always known about building, is be flexible, and "everything" is a guess... so, the idea that we would have a "weather tight building" by Christmas was the "guess"... and due to weather (mostly) we now are working on the the "flexible" part, and maybe will have a roof by the New Year. "weather tight" will follow.

I really don't know how the guys do it some days. The wind can really whistle across that field, and then to be two stories up....well, it's more than I care to do!!! The "nice thing" is, when the generator is running (no electricity yet!!!)... the barn is up and running, and the tack room is heated. At lunchtime, the guys come to the tack room to warm up and have a little break from the weather. It's the best that I can offer at the moment!!!









It won't be Santa that gets credit for being the first "up on the housetop"...

it's Eric!!!!

NOT in time for Santa.....

Since we don't have a rooftop for Santa to land the sleigh on... I guess it's ok that we don't have the chimney done either!!! But the masons are keeping up with the builders, and it looks like they will both be to the top about the same time. The cocoon that was built in the cellar has now grown to the first floor. While Ken, Buzz and Eric work out in the weather, the masons work in t-shirts inside!!! But, keeping materials warm to build the chimney is a must!!!




An interesting way to "bake the bricks"!!! and it's a great way to keep the space toasty warm....

Up she goes, and getting very close to where the mantel will be installed. Ed and I chose a piece of "blue stone" for the mantel... I should have pictures next week to show it in place.
Not too long after I got this shot, the masons had to wrap it up for the day... our generator decided to be very naughty and quit running!!!! what a pain!!! because without it's power, nothing electrical can work. I am so very glad it didn't decide to do this during the power outage, but we will have to figure out what is going on with it.... and I think next week, we will begin to bug CMP again... we just need that last little hook up and all of this will be so much easier!!!!









Now, the chimney is being built with a woodstove in mind. I would have loved to have a fireplace, but sadly... they're aren't practical anymore. Because I had to "give up the fireplace" idea, I was very fussy about the type of woodstove we got. I wanted one that had a nice open front to show "lots of fire"... I also saw one at a client's house that was made of soapstone. The wonderful warm heat that little stove gave off was amazing, so when we went stove shopping I was drawn to the soapstone stoves.

After looking them over very carefully.. we picked this one out. It's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but it's actually a grey-blue color... and look at that door... I will certainly be able to see "plenty of fire"... We bought the stove a few weeks ago, but I didn't have my camera with me.. so, when we went to the woodstove shop on Thursday to have some questions answered for the mason... I brought my camera and took these photos of the floor model... now.. Chris.. you know what our stove looks like!!!!

everything's OK....

just came from the farm.... and miss henny made it thru the night, she was very happy to be with her sisiters this am... I was happy to see her running around the barn.... silly, stupid bird... and no I didn't sleep last night... oh well, there's always tonite....

in for a sleepless night...

These animals of mine!!!! Yesterday morning, I let all the spaniels out as usual.. they love the idea of running free, and for the most part, they don't wonder too far. Sometimes, Trevor and Hunter will run up the road aways, but always come back the moment you call for them. So, I put them out, got "busy" playing on the computer, and they were out a little longer than normal. When I got around to calling them in, everyone came except for Hunter. Well... it was time for breakfast, so he would get in soon.... bowls were ready... no Hunter.... I call again... no Hunter.... I am now getting a little panicky.... Ed comes to help. He walks down the road calling, I walk up the road calling.... still no Hunter. Now, my mind goes into over load... did he fall into the party frozen lake?? has he gone into the woods and is now caught on a downed tree limb??? I am feeling sick to my stomach and almost faint.... Ed tries to calm me and continues to search... I am just sick!!!! I say a little prayer... "Please God, send him home!!!" and continue to call... after what seemed like "hours" (really maybe just a half hour) Hunter appears from no where. Running as fast as he can to my call... and with a puzzled look of "what are we doing way up the camp road"... I hug him tight, tell him he is good (because he came to me!!!) and then quietly threaten to make him into doggie stew!!!!

This afternoon, we were heading down to Newington for "steak night" and finish up some Christmas shopping... and that meant, closing the barn down early. The horses don't care, anytime it's "dinner time" is fine with them... they rush right in.... the guinea hens....are not so sure about being locked up!!!! Ed and I spent nearly 20 minutes getting them in (and yes, this means getting them out of trees)... we managed to get four of them inside, but number five won't budge from her tree... great.. time is short and we need to get going. So, we left the barn door open a crack, with hopes that her sisters will call her inside.

All evening I am fretting about my hen being outside.... when we got home, we ran to check the barn... no hen!!!! Ed needed to get home, so I dropped him off and headed back to the barn. This time I power up the generator to help in the search, and I found her... resting on one of the pasture gates!!!! I am so happy that I spook her and she flies into one of the trees!!! way up!!!! Try as I might, I can't coax her down.... and after a half hour, I give up... guess she is stuck outside for the night. If she stays high in the trees, she will probably keep warm enough and safe from the predators... but only tomorrow morning will tell me!!!! Stupid bird!!! if she would only "listen"... looks like a long night for me, knowing my "henny" is out.... but, I can't hardly climb a 15 foot pine to catch her!!!

I'll up date you tomorrow, but it's high on the "list of things to get done" that we finish their pen so we can keep them locked in if we need to.....

normal...

It is so nice to have things back on a "normal plain".. the house is so quiet tonite without the hum of the generator... but I'm not complaining.. that generator did a good job and I appreciate it!!! I learned some things about running one, and feel that when we are on the farm, and I have to "deal with the generator" I will be able to do so. For the most part, they are very "user friendly", but you do have to be careful with them, and I have already heard some sad stories about their misuse in this past storm.

Dancer was the "queen of the woodstove" today. She knows where there is a warm toasty spot, and the best thing... the dogs can't fit here!!! So, unless Mona decides to join her... this little spot is just for her.









The horses were soaking up all the sunshine they could get. We are in for some snow tomorrow, and then over the weekend as well. I think they sense the change in the weather and take advantage of every good day possible. Duke, for the most part, has settled into our little herd... Tonka will still remind him every so often as to "who is whom" in the herd, but overall, peace is in the pasture. I think the three big guys look a bit like a "oreo" cookie!!!!

Everyone was back at work on the house again. The masons have begun the brick work... this will be the "visual" side of the chimney and the hearth as well. As with any job, getting it started is the most time consuming, once the pattern is laid out, it will go quick from here.

With any luck at all.. this will be the ONLY time that we have ice inside the house!!! We have had a bit of damage, but nothing that can't be fixed... so, we really did come thru the storm well.

Some of the trees did not fare so well... for all it's beauty, the ice is very damaging and there are hundreds of trees, all over town (all over the state) that look like this poor one. The next wind will certainly be bringing down damaged limbs.

POWER...

It's 4:30 pm Tuesday.. and the lights are on for real!!! Oh my goodness!!! Happy Dance!!! I talked with my friend, Betty, who works for CMP (the electric company).. "they" - along with a number of "imported crews" have been putting in 17 hour days... and getting just 7 hours for "rest"... she, like the rest of us, went home to a cold, dark house, where her dear Newfoundland dog would be waiting for her...

so, this little blog is to all of "them".... good work crews, and thank you for your time and effort...


(and after you have had a minute to catch your breaths, could you please get the service hooked up on the farm???)