Getting Ready for -30

Getting ready?  My honey said "Back in the day, we never had to get ready, we just were."  And it's true.  Living in Northern Minnesota, you just expected  a couple of weeks in January to be at -40 every night, with highs of -20.  Not so now.  The last few years have spoiled us and we start to whine whenever the thermometer drops below -10.  We are wimps.

The cold is coming and I figured the livestock and critters are about as prepared for it as we are-not.  This morning was a balmy 25 above and a great morning for being outside.  I threw more bedding in with the ducks and chickens, more bedding for the goat, also.  The cows got extra hay and a bale in the lean-to for bedding.  The bunnies are brushed and bedded.  I made my dog a new shelter as her doghouse faces north and she won't let me close the door to keep the wind off of her.

I insulated the chicken coop that the chickens won't stay in with straw bales and this should keep her nice and toasty.
Brought some firewood closer to the house so that I don't have to go out to the woodpile tonight.

"They're" predicting between -20 and -30 for the next four nights with up to 40 mph gusts of wind tonight.  The wind has picked up out there but it's still above 0.
Stoke up the stove and stay warm.

Canning Leftovers

I have the canner simmering on the stove right now full of odds and ends.  I've been putting our leftovers into freezer bags and throwing them in the freezer.  Today I had to do something with the leftover ham and decided to can it up along with the collection I had in the freezer.  I'm canning everything at 10 pounds for 90 minutes, except the ham which is in pint jars.  They only have to be in for 75 minutes.

I now have turkey, ham, sloppy joe, chili, and turkey and rice soup added to all the jars in the cellar.  Heading down there is like going to the grocery store.  It's like playing store when I was a little girl, only now I can use real food.  (I'm grown up now.)  I feel so blessed, and just a bit giddy.

Doesn't take much.

Be blessed.

Adventures With Mike

My honey is proof to me that nothing is impossible.  He can swim the deepest ocean, climb the highest mountain and leap tall buildings in a single bound...well, just about.  He CAN bring home anything that's not cemented permanently in place.  Give him a challenge to haul home and he'll conquer it everytime.  Like the time he loaded a dragline by pushing it from behind with a dozer onto the trailer while I looked on from 2 blocks away.  Or pushing a 10 foot wide semi onto an 8 foot wide trailer while I sat in the cab and steered.

This week he brought home my new barn.  My last new barn-

is now a storage shed with no room left for my critters or the milking parlor.  So here are some pictures of my last "Adventure With Mike" and my new, new barn.

Coming down the driveway on it's way to our home.

Heading out on the highway.
For some reason I can't get the rest of the pictures to load.  Oh well, you get the idea.  This old granary was riding on a hay wagon and headed down a busy highway.  I drove the escort vehicle.  :)

There are three rooms in my new barn and one is a brand new, never used, chicken coop.  I'm so excited.  We'll put it on a new foundation next spring and I'm putting up new pastures for my goats and chickens around it.  Put in a milking parlor, slap a coat of barn red paint on it and it's good to go.

Best of all, this building was just given to us!

Tuesday Morning in the Valley

The coffee is fresh and hot off the stove.  The woodstove is all fired up and there's hoarfrost on the trees this morning.  We had a pack of timberwolves on the edge of the pasture this morning.  The youngstock are close to the house, so I'm not too worried.  We have a couple of good sized donkeys that hate canines and are great guard animals.  They sound an alarm for the whole township to hear when something's not right.

I'm blessed to have a bunch of young friends coming over today to help make sugar cookies.  God has blessed me with children in my home even though my own are not.  He is so good. 

Yesterday was tree finding day.  I was blessed again to be able to go with some friends to find trees for everyone.  An old satellite dish (remember the kind you can use for a chicken coop roof?), was hooked behind the pickup, we all piled in and away we went.  Over the river and through the woods and not one casualty-except the three trees.

The critters are awaiting breakfast and I need to make a run into town this morning before the cookie makers get here.

Merry Christmas.

Monkey Hat and Stuff

I finished the monkey hat.  I didn't have a model so I stuck it on the baby doll without a home.  She's been sitting in my kitchen for six months and I haven't been able to find a little girl who wants to take her home, so she's agreed to model for me while she waits.

Hat's a bit big for her.
I also finished a dishcloth with an evergreen pattern-for my neighbor who decorates in a woodsy theme.

And I have to post a picture of my Christmas cactus because it's blooming on time.   This is a rare treat for me.  Usually it's a Thanksgiving cactus or a Valentine's cactus.

I guess this was one of those "show and tell" posts. 
God bless.