Dale's bird eye view...

I think I have said this before... my friend, Dale, is learning to fly and I think that is really neat. One of the airstrips that she can practice landing on, is a small grass strip that is technically behind our farm.... it's a private strip that is kind of "funny", because a gravel pit is on one side. If you drive into the pit, you have to stop at the air strip and look both way "for planes!!!" We see small planes flying in and out a fair amount of the time, especially in good/summer weather.




Now, not only do I think it's neat that Dale flys... but what's really cool (for me anyways) is that she always takes pictures of the farm for us!!!! Yesterday when she went over, the horses were out... and you can see the house really coming along!! (the blue is NOT the house roof... it's the tarps that the guys put up to keep the weather out this weekend)

I love this photo.. it really shows that the farm is in the lake region and on the foothills of the mountains!!!

thanks Dale... I love sharing your photos!!!

bells....

I went to "bell choir" practice yesterday afternoon... it meant skipping out on the York Christmas parade, but sometimes, you just have to decide what you want to do more. I have always loved hearing bell choirs, I wished they didn't just appear at Christmas time.... so, when I heard at church that they were putting one together, I went to see what it was all about.

The bells are beautiful, and the church has a complete set, I don't know exactly how they got them, but it seems that they haven't been used in awhile and some folks thought it would be good to get them out. There were a dozen (or so) of us that came to practice and there is a bell or two for everyone.. so I got to play!!!

There's a bit to it, other than being able to know when to ring your bell.... there's a knack to proper ringing, so your bell will be loud enough to be heard, and not so loud that it takes over the whole choir. There's also a proper way to hold them, and to put them "at rest"... it's great fun, and we will be playing in church on Christmas Sunday (the 21st). It also gave me a chance to meet some more "church folk" and to start to become a real member of the church family. I felt bad missing the parade and spending time with "the family", but I made a good choice!!! and they can come and hear us perform!!!

Off and on all last week, the lake is beginning to freeze over. Usually in the mornings, there is a light coat of ice, that often is gone by mid day if it's warm(ish) or windy. But this morning, with the light snow that we have, not only is there ice, but the coating of snow as well. As Ed said, this is when the lake is dangerous, it looks deceiving seeing this "field of white" and thinking you could walk across, but no way can the ice hold any weight right now!!!

I keep a careful eye on the dogs when they go out, since we have moved here, they really haven't been that interested in the lake, which is surprising to me, because in the summer they are like fish in that lake. Maybe because it's too cold, or the fact that they can run loose everywhere else, they just haven't gone down by the lake. Still though, there's no trusting them right now... I certainly don't want to have to go in after them!!! I figure by February, it will be safe enough to venture out on, but that might not be a good idea... I don't need them to know that they (dogs) can... so we'll see... one thing about being here.. there is plenty of space for walks and runs... they're happy dogs...

power, pads and puppies....

"OK.. CMP... do you not need my account and money, or is it just because I have no other choice for electrical power and you know that you can do it your way?" So, as you all know, the "road crew" arrived at the first of the week, and got the power from the road to the transformer. Then the "meter crew" needs to come in, and take the power from the transformer to the meter... about a 20 minute job... and we are in business. Chris has everything all ready, and the job is a piece of cake for the electric company. Well, on Wednesday, we are still waiting for the "meter crew".. Chris calls CMP and they tell us we are missing a "form"...... Ed goes digging around his files and yes, we did forget to get one form filled out... sorry... our fault!!! We fill it in and ship it off. On Thursday, Chris calls to make sure all is well, and to check on when the "meter crew" will arrive... well... guess what, turns out there is ANOTHER form missing!!! Mind you, they never call and let you know that, I guess they assume we know everything about their schedules!!! So, Chris fills out this form and faxes it in having been told "if you have it on my desk in the morning, I will get them out there".... we wait... all day and by 4:00, it's pretty certain they won't make it today!!!!! The silly thing is, it is such a simple procedure and won't take anytime, but it means everything to me right now!!! Oh well, there's hope for Monday, but it's another weekend of running the barn off the generator or doing chores early in the daylight. I just don't understand where PR and personal care have gone these days....
On a brighter note, the cement truck showed up and poured three "pads" and the posts for the screen porch!!! We needed to have a pad poured in the cellar for the chimney ... which will be started on Monday!!!! one in the garage for the posts that will hold it up when it's built, and one for the outside wood furnace!!! It was a bit of "nip and tuck" getting these pads done, the earth is beginning to freeze and the digging for the pads was a bit of a tough go. But Ed and his little John Deere managed it!!!

This is where the wood furnace will go...we're pretty excited about this!!! Not only will it supply the major heat to the house, but as we get the woods thinned and cleaned up, we can burn all the brush and wood that we take from it. Nice to keep it all neat and get some energy out of it as well... That should be able to get onto the pad by Monday, and a few hook ups, and it can be in business....

And here is where the chimney begins. I have been a real "nag" when it comes to this chimney!! from the very beginning of this project when we were designing the house, all I talked about was having a big center chimney!! I made this very clear to the designer, to the company and to Ken. I just have a "thing" about a house with a chimney in the center!!! (I know... she's weird) So, when we talked the with mason, I again, was very clear as to what I am looking for. I am sure he has done dozens of them, but I will be watching very carefully to make sure it's just so. I can give up on some things, or live differently with other things... but NOT with my chimney!!!!
And it's back to fostering again for Cocker Rescue!!! Originally I thought that I wouldn't be able to do any fostering over the winter while we are living at camp. But actually, the house here is just as big as our other house was, and room wise - it's fine. This little guy came in on a semi-emergency situation and is actually a little dog that I personally know. He is here with us until we can find him a new family and is a perfect dog!!!! completely trained in every way, gets along with everyone!!! The only "trouble" is...he is 8 years old and sadly, adopters can be "nervous" about adopting an older dog!!! But he's healthy and full of life and just needs that family who will think he is the very best!!! If any of my "local readers" know of a family that deserves a great dog... get in touch with me.

pictures, pictures, pictures....

I have just finished placing a picture order with "snapfish.com"... Kas told me about them, thank goodness!!! I am a picture taking fool, and between photos for the blog, photos of animals, photos of the house and barn... I can fill a camera card!!!! I love this digital thing, in the old days, I had rolls and rolls of film always needing to be done!!! and then I kept maybe half of the pictures once they got back!!! It's so nice to be able to see your pictures right away!!!

On this "catch up" day of mine, getting my prints edited and ordered was a main project of the day... I placed the order just moments ago.. all 433 of them!!! PLUS 80 photo Christmas cards!!! Fortunately, my bill wasn't as high as you might think... so if you are a "picture freak".. you might look into "snapfish"... funny name, good company!!!!

a catch up day...

As much as I love having "work" (private students, dog classes) when I do get a day "at home" it's a real treat... and so it was today. I actually appreciate being able to be home or at the barn, because it seems as though there is always some catching up to be done. I pretty much spent the day working around the barn... getting things tidy and put into place. I was able to get Duke out again today, and we did much better working together. I think that I am beginning to figure him out, and for such a big guy, he is super sensitive.. I find that I had to hold him real easy in the mouth. I also got his harness figured out, and it looked (and fitted) so much better today.

The house is closing in quick!!! and the pile of panels is getting low. For the first time, I was able to pop inside and see what it looks like with walls. I am happy with the size, and think it's going to be just right!!!

The mason came today, dropped off his supplies and the chimney will be started tomorrow!!! We are going to have a center chimney with a woodstove in the living room. It would have been nice to have a fireplace, but it doesn't make sense to have one.. and they're pretty expensive to install.. so, I will be happy with a woodstove. This picture was taken from the "living room" looking towards the stairs and the spot that the chimney will be in.

And this "shot" is from the garage looking towards the kitchen and living room area. It looks big without interior walls, but that will change with time.

From the backyard, the house looks really big, but I think it's because you can see the cellar entry as well. If things stay on track, we should have a roof next week!!! And then the weather won't be such a worry!!!

So, it's busy/busy around the farm!!! there should be some big changes over the next few weeks...

and yes, we are still waiting for lights...oh well, everything in good time.....

"half power"

Happy December one and all!!! another month come and gone, where does the time go??? With all the projects going on I feel that we are already playing "beat the clock"... and when a whole month has gone in a wink... it makes me "nervous"....

But, big progress was made today... we have power on the property!!! "CMP" came this morning and has brought power in from the street!!! Very exciting!!! Never really noticed telephone poles until I realized that those wires are "ours"!!!

I am not excited about the big green transformer that we need to have, but it can't be helped. We wanted to build back from the road almost as far as we could, and if we want lights, the transformer is a must. Fortunately all the other "ugly" electrical stuff is neatly hidden in the little shed.... (thanks for the great idea Chris)... and maybe next spring, I can come up with some ideas of how to "hide" the transformer!!!

Within the next day or two, the second crew should come out and do the "interior" work... getting the power from the transformer to the shed... and from there... it heads to the BARN!!! I don't dare hold my breath, but there is an excellent chance that we will have lights to the barn by the weekend!!!!! That means I can plug in the water buckets and no more ice!!!! A dream come true..... funny how some things can just make your day!!!!

Changed the wreaths on the barn door!!! it was time for the autumn wreaths to be tucked away and the Christmas wreaths put up. This picture doesn't show them that well, but it is actually a wreath made from bells. I thought bells would be perfect for a barn door.... especially since we have them on harness!!!

Aside from the electrical side of things.. the tubing is here for the radiant heat that will be in the cellar and first floor.... I guess that means next week we will need to start laying that out. Since the weather is getting cold it will be a race to get the cement poured!!!

I hope we win!!!

a magical evening

When the girls were little (4 ish) my parents began a Christmas "tradition" of taking them for an afternoon or evening to see a play or ballet, and then going out to dinner. It was the highlight of the Christmas season and went on for many, many years. They saw a number of different plays, but mostly saw the "Nutcracker" ballet year after year. The girls never got tired of seeing it, and with some really outstanding ballet companies that we have around here, you can always be sure to have an excellent show. As they got older, other things were more important and it wasn't "so cool" to attend such things, but they always had the best memories of it.


Now that they are adults, they really do appreciate the things that they got to do and see as kids.. and Ed and I hear it all the time....."remember when we did this...." or "remember when we did that..." it's nice to hear that sort of thing when you are a parent... and rest assured to any of my blog friends out there raising teenagers!!!! this too, will pass!!!! and great young adults will appear on the "other side!!!"

Our Kas is definitely a "romantic" and all the times that she was waiting for Nate on one deployment or another, she would talk about all the things that they would do together when "he got back" or "when they lived in Maine again"... well, seeing the "Nutcracker" as a family was high on her list... and so, last evening, we traveled up to Portland to see a performance. We stopped for dinner on the way, found the Auditorium without any troubles, parked close and enjoyed a great performance by a very talented ballet company. The Auditorium was grand, our seats outstanding.... but for me, the whole night was about how blessed we are as a family!!!! To have our girls and their guys such a major part of our lives... to have come thru the teen stage fairly unscaled... to really and truly enjoy each other... is a gift that is almost beyond words.


The "boys" were good sports... a ballet isn't generally something a guy would chose to do... but Ed, Nate and Matt went along with it, and for the most part seemed to enjoy themselves. The "girls" understood it better, having seen it a "million" times, and I knew the story from reading it to them ... but the guys really didn't get it. Still, though it was great fun and we will certainly jot this one in our memory books.

The other "thing" that happened is I finally got Duke into his harness and did some work with him. Please don't look too closely... this harness is a bit different from Tonka's and only after I had worked with him for nearly an hour, did I realize that I didn't even have the harness on correctly!!! Which might account for him being a little hard to handle. We certainly need some time together, he needs to get used to me and I to him. This picture here proves it... his head is held way high and his pace is jumpy... I can tell you, about this time I was thinking " THIS is a lot of HORSE!!!"

But, after a little bit, he began to feel better with me, and even started to relax a little. I find him to be super sensitive, and have to be very careful where I place myself. Being a carriage horse, he knows his work and is probably wondering "who is this person behind me?? and what in the world does she want me to do??" He is very different from Tonka and I need to remember that!!! I felt a little disappointed in myself for not doing a better job with him, but I felt that way when I first started with Tonka too, and I know that time and practice will make a big difference for both of us.

All in all, it was another wonderful day.. full of great things

it's beginning to.......

Look alot like....

Well, you all know how the song goes, but this morning we awoke to a light dusting of snow. It didn't amount to much, but it is the first "real" snow of the season (we have had flurries ) and it made a pretty sight along the camp road.

I can't decide if I am "ready" for snow or not. It always brings an excited feeling, but with the house and barn still in progress, I wouldn't mind a bit of "open weather" for another few weeks.

I got the candles in the windows, and some decorations for the barn door. We are scoping out where the tree will go (and where we will get a tree) and thinking about the days ahead. The church calendar came in the mail today, and there's lots going on with that....including a "bell choir" that I am going to ask about, I would love to be in a bell choir!!!!! I just love the sound of bells!!!!

Ed and I ran some errands down in Portsmouth ths afternoon, and had lunch with some friends when we met up by chance. The stores looked pretty busy with all this "black Friday" business, but we steered clear of that. And I guess, the "official holiday season has begun".......

Thanksgiving!!!!

I was up this morning around 5:30.. needing to have the turkey in by 6:00. The house was peaceful, Ed was sleeping soundly, and Sadie was in the guest room. Even the dogs weren't quite ready to be up that time of day. The sun was just peaking over the lake... I got the turkey ready. "He" is the last of the ones that we raised... we didn't have any last summer because of the move and all... but next year, we will certainly be raising a new batch!!! I usually get to the barn around 8:00 to let the horses out, so, by being up so early this am, I actually got a cup of coffee before heading off to the barn!!!


As usual, my little sidekick, Mox went with me... we had to "walk" in, because the drive way is such a mess!!! The digger had to dig it up for the electric and then the rain came on Tuesday, and made everything a mucky mess. I could drive the truck thru (and have), but Ed has to fix this and I just thought it best not to chew it up anymore than necessary.

Walking up towards the barn, a "story" came to my mind.... from about the age of 8 until I was 13, I would beg my parents for a horse. I got the usual reasons "why not"..... couldn't afford one (and that was the truth!!) didn't have the land for one, and horses are alot of work. I can remember my Mom telling me that a horse would be an every day job... that meant even on holidays!!!! "You would have to feed a horse and clean it out, EVEN on Thanksgiving and Christmas" I could just hear her saying. Well, she was (is) exactly right, because even though I had guests coming today... time had to be put aside to attend to the needs of my beautiful equines!!! However, the part of "a lot of work" has never really occurred to me.... yes of course they take up my time... but somehow when you love it so much... the word "work" doesn't really apply!!!



And just look at these two rascals!!! I was actually a little late getting back to camp, because of the usual "wasting of time" at the barn. I spend more time just watching and enjoying the beauty of these guys... that time has a way of racing past me!!!

This will be my most favorite photo of the day!!! "Our" kids and grand dogs!!!! It is a rare treat that I have all of them together, so, they probably all figured that Mom would have to have a photo opt today!!! (besides, I think will make a grand Christmas card photo!!!)

and our little niece.... she is certainly "TWO" now, and all that comes with that. But what a dear dear little girl ... and not just because she is ours!!! She was so excited to go out on a walk with her cousins and dogs!!!

The day was simply wonderful... Ed is still not feeling great, but definately better than yesterday. Besides the kids and grand dogs, my parents were here, and my sister, Rachel. We had such a nice time, sitting and talking and being togehter... certainly a time to be extremely thankful!!!!

house watch

On Monday... before Ed got sick, and before the big rains... Chris and Ed worked together and got the electric lines run up to the barn. Everything is under ground and in pvc pipe, which has turned out to be a bit more of an expense than we thought... but, in the long run, this is a wise choice to make. IF anything should go "a muck" and it has to be dug up.... things are protected, it will look nice not to have wires running overhead or telephone poles sticking up in the pasture. And, maybe I have already said.. but the current game plan is for the electric company to come on Tuesday, and with luck... give us power!!!!

This is the "electric shed", and was Chris's idea. As the power comes off the road, it will feed into this little shed. From here, it will go one way to feed the house, and the other way to feed the barn. The shed will also house our generator...which, living out here is a must. The generator will not be out in the weather, and all the switches that it will take to operate it will be under one little roof. Aside from that, it keeps everything nice and neat and we won't have all these panels over all the property.

Yesterday, while Ed and I were "playing" at the hospital.. the guys were working on the house. Fortunately, we did not have too much damage with the storm on Tuesday... a bit of sheet rock got wet, but, everyone feels that it will be ok when it is able to dry out. They got the panels on the mudroom entrance... now, the house has a real definition. Some days it looks big to me, and other days, it looks just right!!!

This is a side view from what will be the garage. If you enter from here, you will walk into the mudroom, which will also have a bathroom and the kitchen pantry.

They have also started the panels on the back side as well. Looking to the left, the two windows will be in our living room... in the center, will be a double door that will walk out onto our screen room, and to the right is the kitchen window, then the pantry (which is part of the mudroom) and the bathroom.

From this side, the house looks very big to me!!!!

We are having Thanksgiving this year at the lake, but I can't help but think that maybe next year, we can have it in the house!!! I remember thinking last year when we started the barn... that "next year" the horses will be living there.... well, "next year" is here and the horses ARE living in the barn... and not just three horses... but four!!! So, all in good time and with a bit of hard work. it's really coming along!!!!

not again!!!!

Ed can have a certain tone in his voice that immediately tell me "things are not going well", it's hard to describe the feeling of dread that crops up in me when I hear this tone.... and it was the way that our day began today.

"Hon.... we need to get to the hospital"... I look at him, panic sets in - among a thousand other thoughts... dogs, "guest" dogs, horses, the barn!! "My back is killing me, I have another kidney stone I'm pretty sure". I jump into some clothes, get dogs out for a potty, make up their food, get guests dogs out for their potty, get them fed... all at warp speed.

We buzz into the barn, I all but throw food at the horses, open their doors and we are off again. Suddenly York feels very, very far away... there is a hospital between here and there, but all of Ed's records and doctors are in York, we're headed south. It's about an hour's ride, Ed hangs in there, but his silence tells me everything I need to know about his pain level. We finally arrive.

They take us right in... get him on some pain meds, run him in for ultra sound and sure enough... he is the proud owner of three new kidney stones!!! Fortunately they don't appear to be as large as the one he had in February and hopefully will pass these on his own.

Next dilemma.. getting him home, giving me time for barn chores, dog chores, and getting to dog classes on time.... daughters to the rescue!!!! Sadie is able to come and stay the evening with us... (she can babysit Daddy when he gets home) and Kas can bring him home from the hospital... I am now able to run back, take care of barn animals and house animals, and get to work.

I hope my students thought their classes were ok.. my brain and heart just weren't with me tonite... but I muddled thru. I am home now, Ed is doing OK.. (pretty "drugged" out) Sadie has taken care of the house, she and Kas have begun to prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow... and I am just about done. I don't handle Ed being sick all that well... I try to be brave, but I don't lie very well. All in all, everything is fine, and we got thru the day.. I just hope this isn't the "beginning".....

cold morning

There wasn't much space around this woodstove this morning!!! "everyone" was crowding in, looking for the best spot!!! Another cold morning... another day of frozen water buckets!!! Ah.. welcome "winter", might as well decide that it's here to stay, even the lake had a coating of ice on it this am. But, my Ed is home safe and sound, and there's plenty of wood for the stove, Thanksgiving plans are in the works.... life is good...

I never sleep well when Ed is not around, so I had a couple of really late nights... however, the time did not go without some gain.. and I have finally finished my square for the "acton fair quilt" next year. The squares have to be in by the 30th..so, I will just make the deadline. The theme this year is "stop and smell the flowers", and the piece of material that we had to work with is the dark piece that you see in the petals. It's not a very fancy square, but it's done and we'll see what other ideas people came up with when the quilt is on display next August.

We also have "good news/bad news" the predictions for the weather is a real warm up starting tomorrow... maybe even making it back into the 40's!!! but, with it comes a "front" and rain is expected over the next three days... heavy rain, with high winds to boot. This morning when we went to the barn, "everyone" was already there and very busy, in hopes that they can beat some of this rain that is due. Chris has all sorts of "things" happening in the electric department and told us that the electric company is going to be here next Tuesday to hook us into power!!! What a blessing that will be!!!

Ken, Eric and "Buzz" are hustling up as well, and want to have the house in a "good place" by this evening. With the bad weather coming and the holiday at the end of the week, this might be the only day that the guys get some work done this week.

It sure is pretty already... I am falling in love with this house!!!!

one year

This was our barn one year ago (yesterday)......











And here it is on it's first anniversary.........

Happy birthday....... barn!!!!!

Saturday stuff

Ed will be home tomorrow, and I am very glad about that. Though I am keeping busy just doing my "normal" stuff, I miss him not being here and really miss his help. Especially this weekend, we are in a big cold snap here in Maine, and right now have a good douse of "January weather".. not that we're not used to weather like this, just that it has come a whole lot earlier than usual. Water has been the big project of the weekend. That dandy water carrier that Ed made up last fall is frozen tight, so I am lugging water 10 gallons at a time from the house to the barn. Which is fine and is working OK.. but four horses ... two being drafts.. can suck up a lot of water in a short amount of time. Duke especially seems to be a big drinker and can drain a bucket in a matter of minutes!!! Aside from the fact that the buckets are freezing, I simply can not wait to have electricity in that barn and be able to plug these buckets in!!! I worry about Mocha the most, she seems to have a hard time breaking the ice in her bucket.. the big guys grab hold and let the buckets slam against the stall walls.. but Mocha either can't do that or doesn't know how, because I have been breaking the ice out of her bucket. She also seems to not like it that cold... "they" talk of a warm up on Tuesday, back into the 40's.. I so hope they are right, we could really use a little weather break right now. In the meantime, it's lugging water and breaking ice... I don't know what more to do.

The guys didn't get as far as they hoped with closing in the building. All last week, they fought against the wind, and a couple of times, I nearly held my breath as they were getting big panels up. The cold hasn't really helped either.. it's hard to work fast when you are chilled to the bone. I know they are anxious to close it in.. that way they can work out of the wind as well. But, they are making progress and the house is beginning to look like a house.

Being Saturday, our dump was open today... it's open on Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays this time of year. For some reason, making a dump run isn't any big deal, and that's kind of funny in it's own way. See, when we lived in York, there was curb side service on Wednesdays... so all I had to do was pull the trash buckets out to the road. But it always seemed like such a project!!! For one thing, you had to get it out early or you might miss the truck. If you missed, then you were stuck until the following week... and I can't even tell you how many times, I "forgot" it was Wednesday, and went flying out when I heard the truck at the end of the road.

When we moved here and I realized that I would have to get the trash to the dump, I was worried about that, loading the trash, driving to the dump, making sure I knew the days and hours it was open, I didn't think I could handle that... especially since I had "such a time of it" just with the curb service. But, it's turned out to be really quite ok... I usually go on Mondays... the dumb is quiet and really it isn't that far from the farm. The drive out to it is a pretty one, going past a number of farms, and small ponds. The dogs have gotten into the habit of making the dump run with me and they love it. The "dump man" always has cookies for them and they get so excited as we turn in. And the "dump man"... what a funny guy he is. He has a long white beard... and sort of looks like a troll.. but he has the best laugh and always something wonderful to say when you pull up. As I said, he loves seeing the dogs, and they no longer bark and guard the truck, but eagerly jump to the window for their treats. I also see alot of "town folk" at the dump and often run into neighbors who have questions about the progress on the house or how the horses are doing. So dump runs have kind of become a "thing that do you". I didn't take all the dogs on today's dump run (didn't have time to go last Monday) only Moxie was with me, (it was almost too cold to have her in the truck, but she insisted on going), the "dump man" was quite disappointed to only see one dog in the truck, and told a few others that were there..."she's the gal with the six dogs!!!"

The last thing I want to "blog" about this evening is my popcorn popper!!! I feel a bit guilty that I haven't spoken of it before. See, popcorn is one of my favorite treats, but I like "real" popcorn. I mean the microwave kind is fine in a pinch, but I like the kind made in oil. I had been making it on the stove top, but I either burn it a bit or don't get the portion right making either way too much or too little. So, Ed went online and found me this wonderful popcorn popper!!! You put a little oil in the bottom, a rotating arm pushes the kernels around, and when its done, you flip it over and have your popcorn in a bowl. It make the most wonderful popcorn with the best taste.... and I nearly have a popcorn feast every evening!!!

It's also a favorite of the dogs.. so I always have to make enough for them as well, we usually finish the bowl between the seven of us!!! and with that in mind, I think I will go and pop us a bowl right now....

don't know how to play...

My blog friend, nuzzling muzzles, had me on a list of "tagged folks" with regards to telling six random things about yourself... the trouble is, I don't know how to play this tag thing.. but I thought it would be fun to share those six random things. People who know me personally probably know this stuff... but maybe not... so here goes..

1. Ed and I met when we were in the second grade. All thru school he was my "big brother" if you will.. he was the guy I called when my little car broke down (even though I had a boyfriend at the time) he was the shoulder I cried on when that boyfriend turned out to be a jerk... and we never went on one date until we had graduated from high school. Even that was a fluke.. he was "free" and I had just become "free", so he invited me out, and well.. the rest is history!!!!

2. Both our daughter's were born on their due dates... Kassy was October 1st and Sadie was Feb. 29th (leap day).. I am one of those women that you all "hate".. I was in labor with Kassy for three hours and with Sadie for 45 minutes (nearly didn't make it to the hospital!!!)

3. I have always wanted to be a dog trainer (though I thought I would train seeing eye dogs), and always knew that one day I would live on a farm

4. I lived in the town that I was born in, until three months ago!!!!

5. I have been raising and showing cocker spainels since 1981... so I know the breed quite well.

6. and when I am not "playing with my animals"... I love cross stitch, quilting and knitting, and one day would like to learn how to spin. My favorite sort of days are either being in my barn, or sitting by the fire with a cup of cocoa, a good movie and a project in my lap...

so, there are my six "random" things if you will... that was a fun idea....

a real treat...

So what restaurant served this fine looking meal... the fatest of lobster rolls on the prettiest plate??? Well, dear readers, this was no restaurant... it was the wonderful home of my dear friend Aileen. We have been promising each other for months now, that we would take an afternoon, have lunch together and nice long (overdue) visit... Ed left early this morning for a "boy's weekend" in Baltimore, so I emailed Aileen to see if we could get together. Not only was she available... but looked at how she spoiled me!!!! It's a little hard to say what I enjoyed most, her wonderful meal or her grand company... either way, it was one of the nicest afternoons that I have had. Aileen and I met thru the "world of dogs".. but we have so much in common and I love hearing her stories. The afternoon absolutely flew by and sadly, the schedule of horses called me back home once again. but one thing will be certain, I am not going to let so much time pass before we get together again... when the Good Lord blesses you with special friends....you need to be wise enough to enjoy the gift.... thank you again my dear friend.... it was a wonderful afternoon!!!!!!!

bye-bye beams.....

As "promised" the house is being closed in this week. Watching this timber frame go up has been quite interesting, because nothing seems to go "together" the way I have seen other buildings done. The timbers went into place, and then the ceilings were put up. Now, the sheet rock is placed on the outside of the timbers, and then the outer insulated panels go into place. Ken likes this method, because with the sheet rock behind the timbers, there wont' be any gaps between the two.




Timber framed homes will, over time, shrink a little as the wood ages and dries out. If the sheet rock was placed between the timbers, when it does this, there would be small gaps, which not only wouldn't look nice, but would allow small spaces for air to leak thru. This house is designed to be extremely energy efficient, and with fuel prices as high as they have been, I know we will appreciate that in the years to come. Here's a shot of what will be the dining room....

These are the panels that are going on the outside, there will still be another layer on them, which will be the outside trim of the house. Ken keeps telling us what an easy house this will be to keep warm. And since we are dealing with a good cold snap right now....... today it only got into the high 20's.... warm is what I'm going to be wanting!!!!

The stair case is in as well. When you walk thru the front door, you will see the stairs. (typical colonial style design) I did manage to climb up them yesterday, course, with no walls on the second floor, I didn't "feel any safer" up there, but got to have a look around. Nice view of the field and the horses from "the bedroom" area. Getting down was another matter, fortunately Ed was there... wish I wasn't so afraid of heights!!! I am such a "woos" ....

Moe and "the digger" started making their way to the barn. This water and lights thing is coming in the nick of time..... we are already dealing with frozen buckets, and bringing the horse in early in the day, so we have some light to work by. But thinking that a year ago, we didn't even have a barn... there's been alot done in short amount of time.