This Week's Work

Once again we have been keeping busy with projects around the house.  The list is never-ending but the progress is pretty amazing.

 

Here is a better photo of the garden area now that it is cleared from the ground up.  We got a quote last week for $5000 to pull the stumps from the 2.5 acres we had logged in November.  We will be getting a couple more quotes soon but it looks like we will have to wait to finish the clearing.  This means that my flower beds will be turned into vegetable gardens again this year!

 

Last week I turned the purple guest room into a sewing room and made holiday gift bags.  I plan on using these instead of wrapping paper next Christmas.  I bought enough fabric on sale this year for 11 bags but may have to make more next year.

 

A couple of weeks ago I made cross-ties for my grooming stall in the horses' shed.  I had not been able to use the new cross-ties until this weekend due to our incapacitated lawnmower, which was taking up most of the stall.  After various attempts at fixing the flat tire over several months, Matthew finally fixed it this weekend and we moved it into the barn.  Here is Mow in the cross-ties for grooming before a ride.

 

While we are in the Keys in February we will be having someone come and look after the rabbits, cats, and fish (the horses are going to stay where I used to board).  I have been meaning to make name tags for the rabbits for quite a while and figured that I should do so before our trip since one of the rabbits bites!  Now Matthew might be able to tell the rabbits apart :)

 

 

This weekend we ended up working on the garden shed.  I wanted to mount a birdhouse on the shed but we desperately needed to paint it first. Matthew also changed the door so that it swings the other way (and therefore makes a lot more room in the shed) and wired a light so that I can see to get water for the rabbits.  We still need to paint the roof and door and install some shelves, but here it is looking a little fresher and sporting a newly built wren house on the back.
















Here is another bird house from my Grandpa that we installed on the telephone pole in the driveway.  This one is for bluebirds and they like more open space than wrens and chickadees.  I will eventually move this house out into our horse pastures when they are finished. 

It worked!

After taking Margaret's advice and trying a different (although more annoying) method of uploading photos we're back in blogging business and we have some catching up to do!

 

For about a week after Christmas we didn't have to cook any food since we had so many leftovers to eat up.  When we got home from spending time down in Florida, however, I finally had to cook something and went to our freezer for some meat.  I opened the freezer to find a very smelly, soggy mess instead of our delicious venison, pork, and rabbit!  Very frustrating (and pretty gross).  I took the spoiled food to the dump and we put the freezer by the road and someone picked it up.  Then we went back to Sears to buy another appliance!  This time we got an upright freezer with shelves and drawers for organizing.  Now we just need to re-work the laundry room so that it fits better!

 

 

Luckily I had a couple of packs of venison in our fridge freezer so that I could try out our new jerky press.  Yum!

 

As far as work around the house, we have mostly been clearing land.  We keep cutting up things and burning brush but it doesn't look much different.  Here is Matthew cutting up a bunch of trees for firewood.

 

One day's worth of clearing.  That burn pile had coals for about a week!

 

 

We have at least managed to clear all of the garden area so that looks better up near the house.  With all of the fires we've had we decided to take advantage of the coals one night and make hobo dinners.  You can see that the ground isn't too bad behind the fire, mostly just the stumps left.

 

 

And good news about my horse--Rabi has gained about 100 pounds and is feeling great!  He and Mow have been playing a lot lately.

 

 

Matthew and I are still dancing regularly and our swing dance club is steadily growing.  We hope that all of the newcomers continue to dance with us.

 

 

And lastly, for my birthday we took both of the horses to the farm where I used to board for a trail ride with a couple of friends.  It started out chilly but turned out to be a beautiful day!

Horses

You might have noticed that we haven't been posting much lately.  Blogger has not been letting me post any photos for the last couple of weeks and I'm not sure what is wrong with it.  I will have to upload the photos to Matthew's computer and try doing it from there.  Until then, I can post videos.  Here is another video of the horses playing from yesterday.  It cooled off about 15 degrees in the middle of the day and the wind picked up - the perfect recipe for fiesty horses!  Watch Rabi kick up his heels in the first 5 seconds.

 

New Years

Matthew and I made a quick trip to Ruskin, FL (near Tampa) for New Year's weekend to spend some time with my family.  My grandfather, grandmother, and all three of my mom's sisters plus most of their families were there.  It was great to see everyone and we had lots of fun hanging out.

 

When we first arrived we all went out to eat at on oyster bar.

 

The next day we went to the Manatee Viewing Center where my grandmother works and my aunt and grandfather volunteer.  The center was created by the Tampa Electric Company (TECO) and is a free place to go and see manatees during the winter.  The power plant puts warm water into the bay and manatees congregate there to stay warm. It wasn't very cold the day that we went so most of the manatees were farther out in the bay feeding.

 

The power plant.

 

Matthew and I with my cousins Adam and Rosie by the nature trail.

 

One of the manatees.  We also saw lots of fish and birds.  The sharks and rays often leap out of the water in the bay.

 

After the viewing center, Matthew played shuffleboard with some of the family while I went birding with others.

 

 

We added a few life-birds to my aunt's list.

 

Hanging out at my grandparents'.

 

We spent the evening eating and going to the hot tub.  Here my cousin and I are coloring while waiting for dinner.

 

Grandpa showed us his Rudolph set up for the golf cart.  He takes it in the annual golf cart Christma parade around the park.  We missed the parade, but here is a photo from an aunt.

 

Before we left on the third day, Matthew went golfing with the guys while I did a puzzle with some of the girls.  We also stopped at a fish store on the way home (they are way nicer than around here!) and I bought a couple of new corals for my tank.