No the roof wasn't leaking ...

Today I received a phone call from latchkey saying that my son got a boo boo.  He was sitting on a stool right next to a counter and bank of cabinets and managed to hit the back of his head on the edge of the cabinets.  Apparently it bled pretty hard and *might* have freaked the latchkey people out a bit. I was told he was sitting there and said "I think the roof is leaking," because he felt something wet on his neck.  Um, no, that's not water from a leaky roof.  I have a feeling that shirt is ruined.  It was pretty bad.  But you know how head wounds are.  It wasn't very big and didn't bleed for very long.

We were supposed to get our order of wood today but it didn't show up. Boo and hiss! It might come tomorrow but I'm not counting on it. 

No baby chicks yet. I'm kind of wondering what we are going to do with sweet Elvis once this is all over.  She's got a bare chest.  Will she survive out in the coop with her breasts hanging out? Ha ha ha.

Oh, the cupcakes were a hit at my son's school and he came home with five.  I'm sure he will make those disappear in no time flat.

Tomorrow family is coming over to celebrate my boys ninth birthday.  I think we are all set.   Gift is wrapped, homemade root beer is in the fridge and the main course is in the fridge. I'd say everyone is excited!

1. It's Friday and not only is it Friday, it's also payday. Yay!

2. I was able to leave work early and get all my errands taken care of  before heading home.

3. When I went out to the coop tonite to tuck them in I told the girls and Brewster that we had company coming tomorrow and to try and not mess up the place.  Then I heard a loud *plop* as if to say, "this is what we think of that"  Gotta love good timing.

4. When I got to latchkey I told my son "I heard we have to go to weenie hut general today" and he got all indignant and said "No we don't!"  (It's a Spongebob reference)

5. This song: 

When we started the house buying process for the homestead I got to experience all the fun with buying a house and the whole time my guy kept telling me that things would work out.  Then I started hearing this song *all the time.* It spoke to me and in a way reminded me of my guy doing all that he could to make the homestead my home. :-)  I love that man!

A fairly uneventful day

Saturday is my son's birthday. He's going to be 9 years old and he is the light of my eye. Today I picked up one of those cupcake cake things so he can bring treats to school tomorrow.

 I was hoping they would have something Minecraft but this is pretty darn cute, too.

 

 After work today the whole family went to Home Depot and picked up a HomeLite electric log splitter. We were so eager to see how it worked that we used it in the kitchen. It's a snappy little thing.  I'm quite impressed.

 

We got it just in time. Tomorrow our order of wood will be delivered.  Woo hoo!

It was a fairly uneventful day, otherwise.

1. How the wind sounds in the trees at night.  The wind wasn't blowing very hard.  Just a soft breeze, and it made that pleasant rustle in the pine trees.

2. The sun made an appearance and the temperatures were pretty pleasant.  Well, above zero.

3. Yesterday my son said he was glad that we didn't live in the old town anymore and he liked living in the new town.  I asked why, he said that he liked the school better and the town has a lake. The latter I thought was pretty funny.

4. The price of gas went down a few cents. I was able to fill up and "save" a little.

5. How bright the stars were tonite. 

Back to the grind

On the way in to latchkey this morning my son told me that if felt like Monday.  At the time I had to agree.  On the way home if felt like today was Thursday and tomorrow should be Friday.

I'm not going to lie, it felt a little weird being back in the office after 4 days not being there.

I also managed to goof up pre-meeting notes and send a 2013 media kit to someone who was interested in advertising.  Oops.

After dropping my son off at latchkey I snapped a couple photos of the sky because it had this pretty pink along the horizon. 

The snow bank is at least six feet tall.  I have to nose out onto the road *very carefully* to look for cars before pulling out all the way. 

I'm also branching out and trying new things in PS Elements. I'm liking what it did for the sky.

Today was also religious ed day. In the other classroom I could see two boys holding crucifixes and one of the boys decided that it made a good mock gun.  Oh boy!  I was a bit surprised that I didn't hear the teacher say something about it.

When my son left his class he handed me a mess of papers.  One of them was a drawing.

Mr. Stampy Cat.  I guess it's something from Minecraft.

While I was waiting for class to let out I worked on my Baby Surprise Jacket. Not much progress made so no new photos.  I forgot how mind numbing garter is. I'm already sort of wondering why I wanted to make one so bad. 

1. On Facebook one of my friends shared a Budweiser commercial and of course I watched it.  It was cute.  Then I went trolling on Youtube for past Budweiser commercials and came across a past favorite.  I laugh *everytime* I see it.

Whatever their marketing people get paid, they certainly earn it with the awesome commercials they put out.

2.  It got into the 20's F today.  It was great! What a heat wave!

3. This music video

I was reading a movie review about "The Dallas Buyers Club" and after a few clicks I found out Jared Lehto has a band. What rock have I been under?  Anywho, the music video is cool, I though.

4. I got my son's cupcakes ordered for school.  My boy is going to be 9 this weekend and so he gets to bring treats in on Friday.  I guess he will also have his name read during announcements Friday as well.

5. The drive home was uneventful and the roads were mostly empty.

Another at-home day

School's were closed again so I had another work-at-home day.

The sun came out and it helped everything *feel* warmer even though it was still way in the negatives.

Currently it is -6 degrees F with a -25 degree windchill.

For supper I made sloppy joes and homemade buns. I think this batch of buns was my best batch since I started making buns.  They came out perfect.  I let the dough balls sit and rise for a while in a warmed oven.

This evening I finally started one of the house projects that I've been meaning to do for a while.  I had some help from my guy.  As soon as the blog entry is posted I'm going to go put a second layer of mud on the wall spots that needed touch ups.

This past weekend I started a BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket). It's not for me and I have no one in mind to give it to -- yet. I've wanted to make one of these forever though.  All garter and two seams and you got a baby sweater.  It's slow going so far because I'm doing a *lot* of counting.

Elvis is still sitting on her eggs. We did another candling tonite and we can definitely see blood vessels in two of the eggs.  One egg is too dark to see. Not sure if the shell is too dark or if a chick is so big we can't see through the shell.  The fourth egg we aren't sure what's going on. 

We are pretty sure we saw movement in one of the eggs. So cool! It really is amazing.

1. My son and I had a late breakfast of pancakes and syrup.  Mm-mm good :-)

2. Tomorrow we will go back to the "regular" routine. I'm sure my boss will be happy.

3. I found out today that we have used less propane this year than at this time last year.

4. My guy came home safe and sound and in one piece.  I worry when the weather is this cold.

5. My son vacuumed the hallway and bedrooms, then swept the kitchen floor without being asked. 

Envisioning myself on a warm beach

I'm picturing myself on a warm beach with the sun shining down on me.  It doesn't have to be hot, just 60 degrees F. or so.  Not too warm, not too cold. 

Ahhhh.

http://wakpaper.com

Currently it's -11 degrees F with a -27 degrees F real feel.

Yet another "bonus" work at home day. Schools closed all around us. I have a feeling schools will be closed tomorrow since tomorrow is supposed to be worse than today.

So *bleeping* tired of the cold.

Nothing terribly interesting happened today, unless you count my son running back to the house in a mild panic because he couldn't get the coop door closed all the way.  OR ... when Elvis decided to step off her eggs and let out one of the most rotten piles of poo I've ever had the privilege of smelling. Oh my word it was bad. 

Yes, that was the highlight of my day.  My chicken letting loose a broody poo.  *sigh*

*bleeping * cold.

So, in honor of thinking warm thoughts my daily 5 will be all warm things.  Some may be repeats, lol.

1. Warm puppy and kitteh bellies.

2. Rice packs.  My son found his old rice pack the other day and I warmed it up for him tonite.  He forgot how wonderful those are.

3. Curling up next to my guy under the blankets.  He's my very own heater :-)

4. Homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream.

5. The perfect cup of tea. Oh wait!  There's a song!

Since I didn't go to work today I had myself a piece (or two) of my zuchinni cake.  It *is* good.

And now I'm going to plunk myself on the couch, grab my knitting and a cup of something warm, and call it good. 

No lazy Sunday afternoon for us!

Today we woke up early and headed to town before the snow really started coming down. We got the final tiles and odds and ends that were needed to make the base for the wood stove.  Course now I know that those are called "hearths" Oh, I feel so fancy now!

These are the tiles and the layout that we settled on.  Many combos were tried and I liked this the best. DH likes them too. :-)

The sides will be a combo of glass blocks and natural stone.

Here's the top of the hearth.  Just a few more tiles to place and ...

Stove is installed!

Just kidding!  Here is it.  Still on the back of the truck.

There was no way it was going to get hauled into the house. Not yet anyways.

Cold weather is here again.  Currently it's zero degrees F out with a -28 F real feel. The wind is just starting to pick up.

Tonite for supper we tried something a bit different on a recipe we've been using for a while; those "bombs" that call for biscuits in a can that are rolled flat and filled. This time around I made bread dough and rolled it out instead.  The consensus was the "bombs" are much tastier with bread dough.

These were made with hamburger, bacon, Swiss cheese and onions.

I also made zucchini cake for work tomorrow (if we go). My son asked if he could have a piece and he proclaimed it "yummy!" 

Last night after I posted my blog entry I went out to the coop to tuck the chickens in and shut the lights off.  The chickens were all still running around the coop so I topped off their food bucket and I decided to get some snow in the pan I keep out there and they went ape for it.  Brewster was making the "Hey girl,s look what I got for you" call and they had a chicken version of a food orgy, or something.  They swarmed the snow dish and were picking it off each other's beaks.

Elvis is still on her eggs.  She's getting plenty to eat and drink, I think.  She's also started her growling again if you get too close.

1. My guy found a recipe for an ice cream cake and I'm giving serious thought about making it for my son's birthday.

http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2013/05/28/snickers-peanut-butter-brownie-ice-cream-cake/

2. Hand knit socks.  There is something so warm and cozy about them.  I also can't wait to do one of those silly photos of my feet in front of the wood stove.

3. A lot of stuff got done this weekend.  I'm feeling very productive -- even though I didn't do even half of what my guy did. :-)

4. The Internet. Need I say more.

5. We are getting 12 cords of wood delivered within the next week.  The area where the wood will be stored has been snow-blown and it's ready to go.

Playing homebody today

After my "late" night  I slept in til 7 a.m. My little man woke up about 8 a.m. and was pretty rosey-cheeked.  I thought he was coming down with something but after a few hours he seemed to be fine.

My DH ran to town to get some different tiles for us to try for the wood stove base.  Meanwhile I stayed home with my son and didn't leave the house -- at all. Why?  Cause it's COLD outside.

Though I will have to head out in just a little while to shut the light off out in the coop.

We also finished rearranging the living room and we are all quite pleased with the arrangement.  Now, to get the all the wood stove stuff taken care of.  But that is weekend projects.

I decided to use some of my home time to load of video of Elvis that I took Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

If any of the eggs are viable we could see hatchings as soon as a week from now. My DH did some reading tonite and discovered that the breed crosses that Elvis is, are the ones that tend towards broodiness.

1. The sun came out and was beautiful today.  Definitely took the edge off the fact that it was in the negatives all day.

2. I'm happy with the "official" final layout of the living room.

3. BLT's for supper. Mmmm :-)

4. Down comforters. They keep me toasty warm!

5. My hair is now long enough that I can braid it.

In which I am up past my bedtime.

Only instead of a cocktail I made myself some hot chocolate with whipped cream and promptly slammed it.

The day did not start out with a bang. But thanks to slow traffic and having to stop at the school to put money into my son's lunch account I was late to work.

There might have also been a stop at Menard*s to pick up an electric heater and to inquire if the wood stove *might* have come in.  Guess what? It was in!

Work flew by.  We are sitting pretty good for publishing day come Monday.  Which is good because there is already rumbles about school's being close on Monday thanks to the severe weather.  And now there is talk about some schools shutting down because they use propane for heat. (If you don't know, there is a propane "shortage")

Got home, had supper and drove back to town with the truck.  For the uninitiated it's been years since I consistently drove a truck in the winter, much less one that doesn't have 4 x 4. So, to say that I'm a "nervous" driver, is putting it mildly, especially in the dark.

Drove there, after dark and got the wood stove loaded in the truck.  The forklift got stuck in the snow so my guy had to back the truck up so the stove could be set down into the truck bed. When we went in to get some other needed items we walked through the tiles again and sort of fell in love with some marble tiles. So we may need to rethink the whole game plan when it comes to the area for where the stove is going to be.

We got home just after 10 p.m. and I gave silent thanks to my truck getting me home safe and sound.

 It's a solid truck and the tires we bought are worth their weight in gold.

1. We have the wood stove and it's safe at home. As my coworker reminded me, this is an investment and I have a feeling it's going to pay for itself in no time.

2. Big warm fuzzy sweaters.  They are going to see a lot of use this next week thanks to another deep freeze.

3. When I was driving home tonite my son put his head on my shoulder and snuggled.

4. I have no where I *have* to be tomorrow.

5. In about 10 minutes I'll be in my warm, cozy bed.

Surprise work-at-home day

Today I woke up to a school closing. Super cold wind chills was the deciding factor for the school closing. My work building was closed.

Since I got to "stay home" I kept my son home. He kept busy while I took care of work-work. We also cleaned and tidied up his room.  It looks habitable now! Not that it was dirty, just very, very cluttered.

For lunch I decided to make some homemade pizza. Mmmmm!

I thought I'd try cooking it in the cast iron skillet and see if I could replicate the deep dish styles like Pizza Hut.  No such luck -- yet.  It still turned out pretty tasty.

Soooo good!

Later on I decided to make a batch of root beer.  The root beer will be ready to go in time for my son's birthday.

I haven't made root beer since last summer. I'll have to make a mental note to buy ice cream and cream (for cream sodas).

Late this afternoon I decided to rearrange the furniture in the living room.  The furniture will need to be moved to make room for when the wood stove is installed. My guy was surprised when he got home. The only thing I didn't move was the tv.  That's needs more than one set of hands. It looks pretty good.

This afternoon I stepped out and took some pictures.  Or should I say: I braved the cold.

Back yard

Looking towards the garden area  

Jack Pine forest 

Behind the coop.

I'm guessing these are mice tracks. 

Log pile by the firepit.

From the backyard, looking over the roof. 

Front yard, from the garage

Far left corner of the front yard. 

Tops of the pines in the front yard. 

This evening I completed the ballband dishcloth I was working on.

This will be added to the growing collection.


Another nice thing about being home is that I could keep an eye on Elvis.  She's still sitting on all the eggs and buck-bucking if you even look in the direction of the box she's in.

1. Homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream.  The perfect end to the day.

2. Working from the comfort of my home.

3. My son's room looks so good! It just needed a little organization.

4. Since I didn't have to drive to town the last couple days I saved about 1/3 of a gas tank.

5. I actually worked in my pajamas today.  That makes me chuckle.

A good day to stay off the roads

Today was my work at home day.  Good thing, I think.  I came across this truck on the way to my son's latchkey. 

Glad I'm not this dude

I'm guessing this person came up to the stop sign that I was at and either couldn't stop or did a 'go through' and took the turn too quickly.  There is like a 10 foot slope on the other side of that snow bank so I'm really surprised that the truck didn't roll.

Visibility was pretty crappy this morning so I'm sure the highway would have been a real treat to drive on.

It wasn't as cold as yesterday but the wind was pretty bitter.

My DH and I settled on a woodstove and ordered it at Menard*s today. It will come in about a week.

We ordered the Myriad woodstove. I think we are going to be very happy with this.

Spinning and knitting happened tonite. I finished the ounce of BFL I was spinning.

 

I'm giving the spin-one-ounce-at-a-time method a try. Seems not as daunting as spinning til the bobbin is full. 

I started another ballband dishcloth the other night.  Not much progress so far. 

Here's the cowl I finished this past weekend.  

The Runaround Knit Cowl

Lionbrand yarn in the Tudor colorway

Needles: US 15

I really do like this pattern and it is SUCH a warm cowl. 

1. I wasn't the person that slid into the ditch this morning. That is an area I worry about, too.

2. It was warmer today than it was yesterday. I will be so happy when the temps stay cosistantly above zero degrees F. 

3. We tried candling one of the eggs Elvis is sitting on and I thought I saw a network of blood vessels. I may be just a tiny bit excited at this!

4. Laundry was caught up today.  I had to wash bedding and I thought it was going to take *forever* to dry. 

5. Explaining phrases and sayings to my son.  Today he was asking me about what a few meant. The only one that comes to mind right now is "Say it isn't so!"

So over the cold. It can stop anytime soon

Woke up, once again, to temperatures in the negatives.

Look at that!  -27 F. This was when we left for school and work.  The windchill factor was in the 40s, I think.

Bah! *insert LOTS of grumbling about how (*&*^&^*%$E cold it is*

I checked the propane to see how much we had left in our tank.  It was last filled a week or two before Christmas.  To my surprise we are still sitting at around 50 percent.  Color me surprised.  Goes to show what a little extra insulation and turning the thermostat down will do.  Last fall we put more insulation up in the attic.  It has made quite a difference.

Work was fairly quiet today and I was able to tune some podcasts into the background and catch up on a couple.  I haven't listened to podcasts consistently for a couple months.  I've missed some, others not so much.  It's nice hearing others talk about their knitting.

This evening I did a little bit of spinning and spun up about half an ounce of BFL.  I practiced my long draw a bit.  Long draw is still pretty amazing to me.

 

I was chatting with a friend yesterday and I realized that I haven't read a book yet this month.  One of the things I wanted to do this year was read more, in addition too all the other things. So I decided that I would read the first book listed on my kindle. 

The Cana Mystery

I got this book when a press release about it came to my office.  It was being offered as a free download and it did sound interesting.  As of today it has 4.10 stars out of 147 ratings. 

1. Good tires on my vehicles. This year we invested in some good snow tires and I don't know if I would have made it to work some days if it wasn't for good tires.

2. My kindle. I have a whole library at my fingertips and they've been pre-picked so I'm bound to like them all.

3. My heater at work today.  The office was pretty nippy for the first part of the day.

4. This Shinedown song.

5. I have my health. Seeing all my friends and buddy's post about sickness in their families makes me feel quite fortunate that I haven't had anything serious this winter -- yet.  Watch, now I just jinxed myself.