Sunday, September 28, 2014

Sunday night update

I had plans to blog this weekend and tell all kinds of stories, but the weather has been too damn nice to be inside!
Hot, mildly humid and SUNSHINE!
I LOVE it!

The crickets are even back making a racket in the evenings. 

Did I tell you the cow ran away?
Yep, she did.
We knew was super lonely after her calf died, but figured her becoming Gypsy's shadow had eased the loneliness. 

Apparently not.

The Hubby got a call at work from the guy who owns the neighboring cows saying she had traveled about a mile or so down the highway to hang out with his cows and that he decided to just let her in with his cows.

Great.
Yeah, I never knew she was even gone.
She only broke a wire or two on the Northern section of fence. The horses must have decided it wasn't worth the trouble to follow her so they stayed home like good little pony's.

Anyhow.

Last night the sunset was spectacular.



Have a great week!




Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Before and after

 This side of the house sure looks naked without all the bushes and plants I had over there.
We pulled them all up in preparation of the chimney coming down. 
It doesn't look too bad from afar,

+

but the closer you get the worse it is.
The crew that took it down were amazed that it didn't fall onto the roof.
They said it was so unstable a good wind would have pushed it over the edge.
We got lucky it seems.


Sure didn't take them long to tear it down.
Apparently there were obvious defects in the previous workmanship in how it was assembled and that is why is deteriorated as it did.

Now we've got to figure out what do do with the rubble - I was surprised they didn't haul it off, but that is not part of the service.


I don't know if I could go up and down that rigging like they did. 
Up and down, up and down - hell I'd probably fall off. 


The finished product and it should last for generations they say.


The wood arrived yesterday so I guess we are set for winter, but lets not talk about that just yet.



Happy humpday :)

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Sunday AM coffee


The evenings come so much earlier now that we've passed the mid point of September.


The allergy causing ragweed is everywhere.
We've got a clump out back by the compost area that is alive with bees.
I was out there yesterday and the bees buzzing was amazingly loud.
Made me a bit anxious to know there were so many of them in such close proximity to where the Hubby was working, but I suppose he can't let the possibility of being stung stop him from doing what needs to be done now that he is allergic to them. 


Our favorite apple tree is so heavy the branches seem in danger of snapping from all the weight.
I've got my first batch of rhubarb wine doing it's thing and as soon as I can rack it I'll be trying an apple wine recipe from these apples. 


Everyday I watch this maple tree from my office window.
I'm fascinated by the changes that seem so subtle one day and then the next whole sections have turned.


We got the chimney done yesterday; it was an all day affair. 
I'll post some cool before and after pictures this week.

Colton is home this weekend and it's been wonderful having him here.
He has literally been doing homework most of the time he's awake.
Apparently he has hours of work to do everyday.

It's cool and blustery today.
Makes me want to make thick soups or bake some squash.

Have a good one :)



Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Wednesday news

Half way through the week.
Otherwise known as humpday.

I found this great blog for recipes recently.
This gal Jamie has tons of easy, have on hand ingredient recipes.
So far this week I've made three of her dishes and they've all been fantastic!
Check her out, you'll be glad you did. 

After tons of deliberation and dithering this weekend we are getting a new chimney put up.
Course first, the old one has to come down.
Yesterday we spent hours digging two feet down and three feet around the old one to prepare the site. and damn I'm sore today.
Colton will be coming home this weekend just in time to assist in this venture - lucky him right lol

Caden has been practicing a lot for the PPK competition that is in October sometime, still haven't heard a for sure date yet. 
School for him this year is good. He likes most of the teachers and is adjusting to the whole locker and switching rooms for every subject thing pretty well. 

Chyann is on student council again and is busily preparing for all the homecoming festivities next week as well as working a minimum of five hours after school every day. One week of work officially done and she is still liking it. I however am quite glad the job will not last long. I'd rather she burn the candle for homework rather than actual work. 

Dodger got neutered on Monday. 
He is doing well. 

Our weather is turning a bit warmer thankfully. 
I am not ready for cool temps yet. 
I also didn't get a damn thing on my to do list accomplished this weekend. 
Decided to hang out with friends instead.
Which for me, as a stay at home worker, was very much needed.
Hope to do it again soonly :)

I leave you with a cool picture of the sky taken last week.  



Saturday, September 13, 2014

Saturday AM coffee

It's been wet and cool this week. 

All the rivers are full.


I thought about turning on the propane furnace this morning, but didn't.
Burrr
Some areas nearby had frost warnings last night.
It didn't freeze here, but I bet it was damn close. 

The pool made it through another season of fun and we are covering it today. 
Think I'll also clean up and put away the summer flowers that are done.

Chyann got a job last week working for a corn farmer.
She and three friends are working after school until dark helping get the harvest in.
Poor kid is pooped, but likes the money so she'll keep at it. 
Probably only working for another two or three weeks.
She even took off her nail polish and cut her nails. 
First time we've seen her without "fancy" nails in about a year.

All our apple trees produced a phenomenal amount of fruit this summer.
I got my shoes all wet yesterday picking apples and left them on the porch to dry.
Big mistake.
Freaking Dodger ate them.
My favorite sneakers.
Couldn't get too mad at him, I did leave them out and what the hell I needed a new pair anyhow - yes that is how I rationalized the situation.

He is getting neutered on Monday am. 
Can't wait.

later







Friday, September 12, 2014

Animal Friday

Dodger


Best napping spot around is apparently on top of the hot tub.

Finally Friday.
YAY!
We've made it through another week.

later alligator 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The wine tasting

My gal pals and I decided to have our own wine tasting since we enjoy them so much and the place in town doesn't host them as often as we'd like. 

We each brought two bottles. 
One less expensive and one on the more expensive side. 
Didn't matter what kind or brand. 
The only real specification was that we couldn't have had it before. 

We also decided it would be a blind tasting.
All the bottles were in brown bags and labeled with a number that way we wouldn't know what was what or even who brought which wine. 
  
For each bottle we'd write our impression of it down and give it a star rating. 
Course as the night went on everything tasted fantastic so the star rating didn't end up meaning much to me. Everything was a 4 or 5 lol

The ladies and I. 


Our selections. 


We all decided we liked red wine better than white. 
Only 2 of the 8 were something other than red. 
We all like smooth the less sweet/dry wine best.
And discovered that price was definitely not a factor in what we liked. 
In fact one of the cheapest wines was a favorite. 

We'll definitely be doing this again. 
Hell of a good time!

Here's to a fantastic week :)

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Annual festivities


Yesterday our town had it's annual fall extravaganza.
We didn't participate in any of the local runs, as we had in past years. 
We did however hit all the thrift sales - which is about my favorite thing to do anyhow.
Didn't find a lot of stuff I couldn't do without, but it's always fun looking.

Highlight of the day was the Parade that Chyann marched in.


She says this is her last year doing it since she'll have other obligations her Senior year.



 And with that being said I irritated her taking so many pictures lol


Colton came and mugged it up with some of his friends that were participating in the parade.


Caden and his buddy plus Shasta, who you can't really see, made quite a haul getting as much candy as they could.


Definitely something to be said about living in a small town. 

We've lived here for 12 years now and as I looked up and down Main street, the majority of the faces are now familiar. I like that. 


It's a beautiful morning here. 
Cool and a bright blue sky.
A great day for a ride. 
I'll have to go by myself unless I can talk Caden into coming though because Chyann is going to gather job applications today.
She decided after working this summer and making a nice chunk of change, that she likes having money in her pocket.

later


Saturday, September 6, 2014

Saturday AM coffee

First week of school done.

I didn't expect it, but Colton came home yesterday afternoon.
Super glad to see his smiling face.
No roommate for him yet and so far all is well at UWRF.

The school had a club fair and interest in the chapter of Pheasants forever he is starting is high.
He sure looks happy.


First football practice was this week.
In years past so many kids signed up to play that there were enough kids for 2.5 teams.
This year they barely have enough for 1 team.
Which is Ok with Caden.
He says only the kids who really want to play are there; instead of the kids who didn't wan't to play, but had parents who made them.

Big parade in town today that Chyann is marching in with the High School band.
Think this may be the first year that we've went to the parade that it hasn't been scorching hot. 
She's glad there wont be a lot of heat because she is playing the snare drum and it's heavier than hell.

bye :)









Thursday, September 4, 2014

Seriously hammered

with rain.
Not even kidding.
In less than 24 hrs we've gotten almost 5.5" of rain!


Which as you can imagine resulted in some issues.

Like the barn being flooded with sand.
Sand?
Yes sand.
Apparently our soil is mostly sand, unless enriched with some horse/cow poop and that sand is easily washed out.
We've literally got four inches of sand that will need to be removed from the barn.


Lots of 10 - 12" deep holes perfect for breaking a horse leg in.


Too many erosion trails to count.



man o man

What a day.
The storms started last night and were major boomers. 
Kept the Hubby up, but not me. 
I snoozed through them all. 
The storms today though really rocked the house with thunder.
I had to go out and pump water off the pool twice - the water was literally pouring over the sides.
I figured with my luck that the damn side would give way when I was pumping out the water. 
Got lucky this time I guess. 

A little water in the basement and a section of the driveway washed out too. 
fun fun

My best advice

given to my son after we moved him in the dorm on Monday as we sat in a restaurant enjoying lunch.

Out of the blue came these words:

Be good at college ok?

and remember

1 - do not screw up your sleep schedule. you have maintained a smart sleep cycle with the exception of twice all summer long. i do not want to hear that you've been up for 36 hrs plus because i will come and kick your ass.

2 - yes, i know you are going to drink, but keep it to a minimum - i mean it or i will come and kick your ass.

3 - do not do drugs, street type or prescription ones or i will come kick your ass.

4 - eat right. don't be living on junk food. you know it's important to have protein and veggies every day.

5 - no caffeine after noon, because you know it will screw you up. see point 1.

6 - get regular exercise. you'll feel better if you do. it is proven to help relieve stress and facilitates clear thinking. which as a 21 year old you can use a lot of.

7 - you know what a good relationship is. do not get sucked into a bad one. or stay in a bad one when you know it's not right. remember all those times you have said i should have listened to you mom.

8 - always be thinking ahead. do your homework before it becomes a rushed sloppy endeavor that does not reflect how really freaking smart you are.

9 - spend your money wisely. from booze in point 2 and food in point 4, you've got to make it last as long as you can.

10 - be safe. this should be self explanatory, but i will give you some examples of things that keep me awake at night - no drinking and driving. no skateboarding off ramps. no swimming in swift rivers. no unexpected babies. no fighting. no going to jail. or i'll come and kick your ass.

11 - call your mother once in a while and have more than just one syllable answers for her when she asks you questions.

and last but not least - know that we love you more than anything. we want you to be happy and successful in life. we will always be here for you.

snif... i miss him tons already.



Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Back to the school routine


We got Colton off for school at UWRF yesterday.
He will be a Junior this year.
Lot's of new opportunities on the horizon for him.
He's even opening a chapter of Pheasants Forever.


This morning we got Chyann and Caden off for school
Chyann didn't even mind taking a picture with her brother this year.


As a big 6th grader Caden gets to experience the coolness of having a locker for the first time.
Check out that backpack - it's ginormous!
What's with the popularity of fluorescent colors?!?!
Most every kid was dressed in clashing bright stuff.
Some outfits hurt your eyes to look at lol


Daddy-O giving some comb pointers.


And he is in.


2 Juniors and a sixth grader.

If they stay on track we'll be having 2 graduation parties in 2016.

I miss the kids already.

Football starts this week too.

Time.
It does fly, I tell you.
later