Things have been a bit busy here lately, and I can’t seem to take the time to sit down and post. I don’t know how people post every day. I sort of have to be “in the mood”. But, it has been TOO long, so here goes.. Read the rest of this entry »
I guess it is not really joy I feel right now. When you look outside and it is cold, real cold, say 5F and you flush the toilet. Then you remember that, “oh I forgot to plug in the heat tape last night”. What this all means is we have no water at the moment. I plugged in the heat tape and water should be back in a couple hours, I HOPE.
Something we all take for granted, but without it, just makes for a few anxious hours. I don’t relish the thought of bundling up and crawling under the house to try something else! Of course now, we think, do we have any jugs of water around to make coffee? Anyway, this too will pass. Snow will arrive any day now, so its time to work on the snow mobiles!
Time for more winter projects fun!!
I can’t believe it! I just can’t believe it! I actually made more than $20 yesterday! In fact I actually made more than $50 yesterday. In fact, I made……….$112 yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so excited! And my daughter sold some of her needle felted critters and made $20! IT’S A MIRACLE! Trust me.
Ondra and I share a booth every year with a friend of mine. It’s a tradition we have. My friend Debbie is good at making money at these things. She has a knack for knowing what will sell, and she is gifted at decorating. She is a florist. She is not shy about “selling” her products. If someone comes by our table, she warmly greets them and proceeds to tell Read the rest of this entry »
I have been sick this week with the first flu/cold I’ve had in a year.I am also making preparations for the Entiat craft fair this weekend (the 14th).Unfortunately, I haven’t made anything since last Monday so will have to go with what I have. I know this is sacrilegious in the sheep world but I have sheep and a spinning wheel, and DON’T spin!. In fact, I have 2 wheels!
This is how it goes. Years ago, in about 1978, I got interested in spinning. I don’t even remember why. I lived in the city and didn’t have sheep. I got a spinning wheel for Christmas and took a class from
The Weaving Works in Seattle, bought some fleeces and went at it. I enjoyed doing it all-washing the wool, carding with hand cards, spinning. I don’t knit (another sacrilege) but crocheted a pillow that I gave to a boyfriend at the time (mistake, I should have asked for it back when we broke up). After a few years I injured my back badly at my job (I was a licensed veterinary technician) and was out of commission for about 3 years so couldn’t spin, and still haven’t much since. My original wheel got damaged right after I was married in 92. Read the rest of this entry »
Christmas and Christmas lights bring new options to our home. (No, we didn’t add another drain on our power budget to entertain the deer that might see our lights) What did happen, and I should have done it a long time ago, was the outdoor lights for the driveway and barn are up and running. The problem always seemed to be having to plug, unplug the outdoor lights, which prevented me from doing it.
At Home Depot Saturday I picked up a couple of remote wireless controls meant for Christmas lights. They were only $13 each. Now we have two little key fobs to turn on the two compact florescent spotlights in the driveway and near the barn. Woo hoo! The family loves it. This should reduce a lot of flashlight and battery expenses this winter!
Yikes! I’m behind on my blogging. Sheep are all doing well. The “girls” are still near Spokane with their new mate for the season, Bluster. We finally got our wood split and stacked thanks to that marvelous invention called a wood splitter. I was the official wood splitter and it gave me such power, controlling the machine that crushes, splits, demolishes and PULVERIZES the wood. OK, I got a little carried away. Anyway, it’s stacked and ready. Starting fires is not one of my strong points. My husband has shown me countless times over the last 11 years how to do it. Of couse his methods have evolved too. One year it is this way. The next year it is different and I’m doing it wrong. And then the next year it is a little different. I think he has settled on the method he and I like best, and one that I can handle. Which is, using charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid and LOTS of kindling and newspaper. I know, the boyscouts would have a fit with the briquettes and lighter fluid. But I am fire starting “challenged”. I am also anal about the kindling. Our wood is a mixture of hardwood, fir, and cherry. This is embarrasing, we BUY our wood. We live next to the National Forest, in fact, we are surrounded by National Forest. And we buy our wood. I need lots of kindling to get my fires started. So I am making the kids pick up every minute piece of wood, splinter, microscopic twig and put it in the kindling area. I am constantly saying, yelling,” Eric don’t throw that away, it’s KINDLING”! I have a real reverence for kindling,( and the briquettes and lots of lighter fluid). Without it, the Craws would be cold if I am the one starting the fires. Also, fir. Fir is my favorite fire wood. It actually starts burning with the paraphanalia I use to start my fires. The hard wood smokes and then goes out. I was trying to organize the wood pile, hardwood on the left, fir on the right. After the fourth day of stacking,the kids were begging me to stop so I didn’t care where anything went. After all that work, we BETTER have enough!
It was one of those windy nights we see in the fall. One where you hear those ‘extra’ noises outside; house creaks, things falling over, and other noises that make you want to pull the covers over your head and wait till morning. Living in the Cascade mountains at 3,000 feet, we get our share of wind in the fall and sprin
g.
The Grounded solar Array
Morning came and the gusty wind continued. Tar paper on the chicken shed blew off, but that was no surprise, since the rolled asphalt roofing was not complete. Read the rest of this entry »
It suffered a setback the other day in a wind storm. It’s missing a wall. We get some fierce winds up here on the mountain. Unfortunately, a few NEW projects have been created.
Spent most of Sunday trying to pace myself getting that hay from the driveway to the “barn”. Had to hustle for the last 15 bales since it started to lightly rain. Ended up with 10 bales in with the animals where they had an all night feast! Fat and happy llamas, sheep and goats. Fortunately, when I finished this afternoon, they had only “unstrung” one bale! …
Just had our winter supply of 6000 pounds of hay delivered. That was easy, now I get the muscle building exercise of moving each 100+Lb bale in to the storage area!
Ron made it up here, but the last turn near the second meadow, the load shifted. 
Fortunately the load was dumped in the driveway with only 1 unbanded bale.
