Thursday 27 December 2012

Survived the First Snow Storm

We did it!    We weathered the first snow storm at the farm!   A new house is always interesting full of surprises to find out the new drafts, the inconvenient places the snow likes to drift and the temperature at which the water lines will freeze.   Are you getting a sense for the day we had today!

DH spent the day clearing snow from pretty much everywhere.   It started off just clearing the truck out from in front of the garage so that Molly wouldn't be late for her 9AM vet appointment.  :-)  
Then all the access points to the buildings.   Since the wind was coming from the north east (go figure a nor-easter dumped a load of snow on us!) it blew into the one end of the girls shelter, into the breezeway between the shop and the stable and up over the side of the arena putting a lovely 3 foot drift in the corner of the stable and the bank barn.   The sliding back door to the stable wasn't even budging this morning when I tried it.   I dug it out but it was no use trying to make it to the manure pile until DH put the blower on and cleared it out.

With the gale force winds last night we discovered what windows and doors are the drafty-est and what will be on the must fix priority list.   The sunroom door has been closed for several weeks now.   It appears to be a 3 season room even tho it has baseboard heat.    We aren't 100% sure if they work; and with the panel not yet upgraded I would rather not test our luck when we don't need the space.  The back door that enters to the mud room is on the must replace priority list.   There's a serious draft coming in under that door.  We have worried about carbon monoxide with the wood fireplace, I guess we can let that worry go; with all the air leaks this house has I think we are getting a 100% air exchange in 24 hours!

Which makes a great seg-way...even with the drafty doors and windows this is the warmest house I have ever lived in.   I grew up in a house with primarily wood heat, my first house was an old war time house that had zero insulation (no exaggeration either, when the plaster and lath was removed I could see the brick from the outside of the house!) and the house on Decewsville Rd was cold too.   The big windows in the front met the prevailing west wind and the cantilevered overhang must have had some issues as my old studio was rather cold in the winter.   Last night we watched a movie and I had the fireplace bogging all day...I had to take off my slippers and socks and peel a layer off to just not suffocate even with the blower off!    I'm loving this warmth even tho cutting, stacking and bringing in wood is not really top on my favorite things in the world list.

The water in the barn froze last night...what a pain!   DH has been working away on the pump room, however the spray foam insulation company can't get to our job until the new year.    Currently the tank and the water distribution are in separate areas...both are not well insulated.   Based on the condition we found the areas we can see that the old owners had issues with the water freezing.   We knew this had to be changed, just too many things on the list.   Everything is thawed out and running again.   I will be on vigil now until the pump room gets completed.   Fingers crossed we do not get a deep freeze until later in January!

On a happier note...even tho we had our first blast of winter, it was a lovely sunny day with virtually no wind.  I hacked out on Izzy to check out DH and my Dad's handiwork from Christmas day.  The brush along the tree line is gone and it looks great.   DH has never had a working Christmas day...he had no idea what he was in for when he married into my family!   Love you Honey!

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my Family and Friends that are following my blog.
We had our first family Christmas at HP Haven this year.  What a wonderful Christmas!   I feel so blessed with the abundance of love, food and festivities.

Here is our family picture in front of the tree for 2012.

I think my nieces and I have started a new family tradition of riding on Christmas day!

My Dad's plan for Christmas day to get out of the house and out of all the activities inside was to go clean up the back bush line.   Apparently, it looks great now with all the brush and old trees the previous owners dumped all cleared up.    I haven't been back there since Christmas Eve day when DH and I went for a walk with Molly.  She was exhausted afterwards...it was likely a good 3-4km on her less than 4 month old system.
Here she is having fun. 

Daddy carried her through the bog in the woods.

Molly's pal Dora was over on Christmas day.   The 2 of them are like village idiots roughing each other up, growling, barking and just plain having fun.   Here they are together during a much appreciated break in the chaos!

Molly is growing so fast...it sometimes seems like from morning to night she has grown!   She got to meet a new dog friend since the last post...Lucy and her parents, Sharon and Rob dropped in to visit.  Sadly, I was out that morning trying to get the last of my Christmas shopping completed and missed them.   Thank you for stopping in and meeting Molly and for the lovely gift.

Lots to update around the farm.
Hydro Update -
The trenching is D-O-N-E!!!   Thanks to my Dad and DH who spent a cold Saturday before Christmas outside getting the final line into the ground and buried.   Just the open ends need to be inspected and then we can get the hook ups completed and the new panels installed.   I know that only sounds like a couple small things but once again those are big jobs to complete.  Haldimand Hydro has indicated that we will be without hydro for 6-8 hours on the day they transfer our service from the old pole/transformer to the new central metering pole.   Thank goodness we have the wood fireplace to keep the house at least somewhat warm on the transition day.   This is a big project that we will be glad to have behind us.   It will open up opportunities in the months and years to come to make improvements that the system currently is not able to handle.   Thank you DH for preserving on this thankless project for the betterment of our future...I owe you one!  (Well, likely more than one by now!)

Drop in Update - 
We have had several drop ins for the holidays.   Special thanks to Bill and Reta for stopping on trenching day and leaving behind 2 beautiful pieces of metal artwork for the new house and shop.   I just love the trees as they have so much meaning to me on so many levels.   Trees will forever remind me of you...especially trees that have expression...I know you know what ones I mean!  :-)   PS the Clod Hoppers are gone!
Also, a big thanks to Rob and Tracy for stopping in and then going for dinner on a spontaneous invite.   What a lovely evening (as normal) and such thoughtful, personal gifts.   Molly absolutely loves her new orthopaedic pet bed!








The birds here are fantastic.  We always have had feeders but tended to only get sparrows and finches at the old house.  This house with the river and the trees has an abundance of colourful birds to enjoy.   I have seen Blue Jays, a Red Headed Woodpecker, Cardinals, and Bluebirds in the last few days.

I purchased a peanut ring for the Jays.   Here they are enjoying it.   What fun to watch these noisy creatures.

Trail Cam Update - 
My cousin Alan has set up 3 trail cameras in various points throughout the bush lines.   Some interesting photos to share.  A big buck, a blurry coyote, squirrels and several does.




This one I just had to add...it cracked me up!

Coyote

...And lastly, the one camera even caught Iz and I out for a hack!



Thursday 20 December 2012

Rain, Rain Go Away

I know that some of my readers out there are also riders...I don't know about the rest of you but I am REALLY getting tired of the mud!   Moving to Haldimand County 10 years ago changed my entire thought process of what mud is vs clay.  
Feeding every morning is a workout these days.   By the time I make it to the shelter and back I have gained about 10 lbs per boot in clay.   If anyone wanted to get rid of me, all they would need to do is throw me over their shoulder and take me down to the river because I would do nothing but sink in my heavy boots!   I have given up washing my barn jacket until after it freezes now.   One water trough refill results in a mud encrusted sleeve rewinding the muddy hose back up to the barn.  

The horses seem to be no worse for wear in all the mud.   I guess happier to be out in the mud than to be cooped up in a 12 x 12 pen.   Emma as you seen from my last post is part pig.  Miss Izzy however is clean...even the tops of her white stockings are still white.  (Let's not get delusional here..the bottoms are caked...it is fetlock deep in their sequestered 1 acre lots).  She gingerly tiptoes through the mud puddles and looks rather aghast that I would turn her out in such torture...she however would be the first one kicking the barn down if she was stuck inside!   :-)
All 4 horses seem a bit lack luster now that they are on their small lots for the rainy season.   No one is enjoying being sequestered to their one acre sacrifice fields.  I kinda hate it too...it was nice to look out the kitchen window and see horses...that won't be until after it freezes now...if it ever does!

Tonight it's raining some more...so we will be adding to the mud and guck.

All this rain puts a big stop on our hydro trenching as well.   Only one more run to do, about 100' from the central metering pole to the house.   Let's hope this is just one night of rain and then we have a fabulous weekend to get things finished up.

However, complaining about the mud also means that we have wonderful outdoor riding ring footing...so even tho I am contending with the mud I am absolutely loving the outdoor riding in Dec. (sans turtleneck and vest...no jacket!!)

This week amongst crazy work hours and riding I got down to making a few treats for the annual potluck lunches at the office.  
Here is a new addition to this years Christmas baking...Cookie Dough Pops.


And of course, one of my favourites...Baklava.




Sunday 16 December 2012

What a Weekend!

It's been one busy weekend here on the farm!
Hydro Update...
The one line is fully trenched and in the ground and back filled.   The long run from the central metering pole to the barn and the run back to the future hot rod shop are completed.  One more line still needed from the central pole to the house before we get all the transfers form the old service to the new service completed.   We have had a hard go with the trenching because of the wet weather.   This weekend my Dad and DH spent most of Friday night...til 11:30pm and all day Saturday getting to the point were they stopped.   All the driveway crossings are back filled and just the openings at each of the buildings have been left open for the inspector.   Hoping for good weather this weekend so that we can complete the trenching before Christmas and just have the inspection left for after Christmas.

While the guys were trenching on Friday night my Mom and I decided that Christmas better make an appearance in the house since HP Haven is hosting Christmas dinner this year!   The tree is up!   I truly was not feeling much like putting up the tree at 9pm when I dragged all the boxes out of the basement.   But by 11pm when the furniture was completely re-arranged and the tree was up I was happy I had preserved and followed through.   I like the tree in the front window... it has a country feel that suits the style of the house.   We had 12 foot vaulted ceilings in the old house...this house has a low ceiling in the front "reading room" area.   So the star has to be placed a bit low on comparison to previous years.   Maybe next year we will have things more organized and get a live tree.

Here's the tree with all the trimmings.

We also decided that the house needed some outdoor lights.   Normally I would have had the 3 large spruce trees at our old house lit up.   No evergreens out front at this house, so we put the strings of lights all the way down the fence line form the house to the road.   I will try and get a picture of those.   I love how they line the entrance and pull the eye up the hill to the house.  :-)

Molly Update...
Molly is growing like a bad weed!    She's been a complete joy to have around the house even tho the mud has been nearly unbearable with this silly warm, wet weather.  She has decided that she REALLY hates being bird bathed in the wash stall using a feeder!
Molly has fallen in puppy love with Dora.  Dora is my parents Louisiana Catahoula.   She was Molly's baby sitter for the day on Saturday.   It was so nice to see the two of the playing together and chasing each other.   Molly had a complete ball!  We have actually discussed a second dog that is older to help keep her company...time will tell!  Maybe the older dog will help with the house training too...good Lord thankfully we have all hard flooring because this dog can pee faster than any dog I have ever seen!

The wonderful affects of mud are being enjoyed by Emma.   She has the pig chromosome that sometimes gets altered from Equus.
Here she is after several good rolls in the filthiest in the best mud hole in the pasture.  Her blanket is so heavy with mud it's falling off!


Here's what colour she is with her blanket removed!

I had 2 of the most fabulous rides this weekend.   Who would have thunk it...Riding in the outdoor ring in only a turtleneck and vest 10 days before Christmas.   Feeling totally blessed with Izzy these days as well.  She has been soft, forward and uphill.  The basics are getting better and better every time I ride.   The joy of young horses...feeling the improvements one ride to the next.

I sure hope everyone's Christmas shopping is coming along better than mine.   I have NEVER  been this far behind at this late in the game.   Nine days til St Nick arrives and I have a whopping 2 gifts purchased.   O my...the stress is starting!  Over and out for this post...I gotta get on-line shopping!!!

Tuesday 11 December 2012

No Hydro Progress and Elbow Grease = Miracle Cleaner

It rained all weekend...so no progress on the hydro trench this weekend.   Boo!
This however does not mean that DH and I were taking a nap and resting on our laurels!  :-)

DH was busy constructing the pump cabinet, so that we can have the spray foam company in to foam it up weather tight.  He also had to drill a water line hole through the 18" concrete / stone wall of the bank barn to bring the water line in from the well.   It was a rather messed up job as he needed to rent a 4" concrete drill.  Went all the way to "The Big Box Store" rented the unit on Saturday night 30 minutes before close.  Got the unit home and realized the guy in the tool rental area gave him the wrong drill!!   Damn!   Back to "The Big Box Store" first thing in the morning to get the right drill.   The actual drilling took about 30 minutes...but the ordeal itself took about 3 hours to sort out.  What a pain!   The hole is now in the wall and we are moving forward again!

I spent some time over the weekend trying to determine how clean I can get the arena windows without power washing.   It's too cold now to power wash but to have the windows clean for winter riding would improve the quality of life during winter riding a great deal.   I realize I won't be able to get them all clean but a test run was in order to see if there was possibility.  Yep, once again elbow grease proves to be a miracle cleaner.

Here are the windows at the start.


Here is one panel completed.   

I know it doesn't look like much here but it's a huge difference from the angle you look out when mounted.

My friend Reta came down on Sunday for a ride...so amazing to have her to ride with.   Emma is doing great and totally loves getting out and being "Large and In Charge" again.   We discussed a moonlight ride at some point this winter when the snow is on the ground.   I can't wait!!   There is something mesmerizing about a night ride; seeing your moon shadow with all the abundance of stars overhead.  


Friday 7 December 2012

Dentist Visit

Exciting day at HP Haven today.   The Equine Dentist, Penny Barteaux came to do teeth.   Both of the girls were excellent.   Both had some minor work that needed to be done and both were such excellent patients that they did not require sedation.  
Here is Izzy in the dental halo having some filing done.


Elvis also needed some work done and here he is in the head rest after his sedation.   Totally neat...never seen a dentist use a head rest before.

Here is a short clip of Izzy that Terrie took this morning when I was schooling.  This is for all of my friends on here that have never seen Izzy go.   You will note the huge pile of sand in the corner that needs to be removed from the arena.   Still more sand to be removed from the footing too. 

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Thank Goodness for Our Fireplace

If it wasn't for our fireplace tonight we would be sitting in a freezing cold house!   At about 7:30 last night we realized the house seemed a bit cool.   Checked the thermostat and realized it was only 17ºC.   DH hit the button to bump up the heat and nothing happened.   This means we have had no heat twice already since the cold weather hit.   The good folks Bill and Amanda of Grand River Heating came to our rescue last night with a late night emergency service call.    The furnace got going and up to temp but by morning it was cold again and dead!   This time no swear words, holding your tongue just so or kicking it would make that sucker turn on.

By the time we got home from work it was a chilly 13ºC in the house and -1ºC outside.   We promptly got the fireplace stoked up and kicking out that wonderful warm heat that only a wood fire can produce.

So...I guess we get a new furnace for Christmas!   New equipment will be installed Friday.   I am counting my blessings.  #1 - That we are in a position to get new equipment, even tho it was not in the budget for this winter.  #2 - That we have a wood burning fireplace that will get us through until the end of the week.  #3 - That this unfortunate breakdown happened now in Dec rather than the dead of late Jan or Feb.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Odd Jobs, Molly and Machine Cleaning

The rain ended the trenching of the hydro on Sunday and now it's back to work and dark out when we get home.   Hoping for a dry weekend then we will have new juice soon!   It really does figure that we had a historically dry summer and now we get the rain.   I guess unless you are a farmer duck you never really want rain!

DH and my Dad did get some other odd jobs done despite the rain.
Here is a before and after of the silly fence up the front entrance to the stable.   I say silly because the large 6x6 posts at the entrance were placed so close that a truck wouldn't even fit through then to get to the front door.
BEFORE

AFTER


DH also got a good start on the framing of the pump room.  The water distribution area was in one area and the water line in from the well and pump in another about 20' feet apart.   Not sure why but that just makes for 2 areas that need to be heated and kept from freezing.   We will move the lines and the tank to one area and make a small heated room.   I had a heated water cabinet at the old house...I loved leaving my winter gloves on the top of the water heater!  Nothing like toasty warm gloves...kinda like right out of the dryer!

I spent my Sunday late afternoon organizing the Wash Stall.   I still need some Feng Shui from my friend Lynda.    She's the ultimate tack stall organizer at the horse shows!


Molly is growing like a bad weed.   Here she is on her the cats bed in the barn.  Remember the first time you seen her on the cats bed back on Nov 18th?   I think she has grown for sure!

She has put on weight since last weeks vet appointment and she looks more solid than she did a week ago.   I think she grows up and then out.  She is full of beans too.   I say she is a cross between a shark and beaver right now.   Bites everything and if she can't bite it and make it squeak or squeal, she chews it and tries to destroy it.   But I can't think of much stuff better than puppy love!   She's just so full of love!    I pick her up and give her a big puppy squish.  I've got to get all the puppy squishing in now before she gets too big to pick up!
Molly had a fun play in the arena this week with Tink!  Molly had no idea what Tink was chasing but chasing Tink was the best fun in the world!   The only trouble with playing in the arena, she stinks like arena sand, so puppy squishing doesn't have that some puppy breath smell.  I kinda preferred puppy breath over arena sand!
In addition to meeting a new dog friend Molly officially has extended family.    She has her Aunt and Uncle; Tracy and Rob and her other Aunt Terrie.   Darlene has declared herself Molly's Fairy "Dog" Mother.   Thanks all, for loving her as much as we do!  :-)

I forgot to add in the weekend post that my Mom also refinished this antique table that has been passed down in the family.   She sanded and restrained the top.   The legs were already black and coordinate well with some of the other dark furniture we have.  Doesn't it look great?   She even brought the poinsettia for the top too!   Love it!


This next bit is for my friends Pat and Karen whom I know are following my blog.   I have been procrastinating getting my studio organized.   It just seems low in priority but I am realizing that my mental health requires it to be put in order.   So I spent Sunday night clearing all the junk stuff off the top of my sewing table.   My machine has been trapped in the well since we all met for retreat in early Nov.   Yes you heard it right...I haven't taken a stitch since we were away together!   Eek!
After clearing off the top and plugging in my machine, because I needed to know that the light still worked even if it wasn't going to get any use.   Then the big brain wave hit me that I should start in this studio with a fresh, clean machine.   So I set out to find the right angle screwdriver that you get with your machine to taking the top plate off to clean out the lint.   All went well until the second brain wave hit that maybe I should take the bottom of my machine off and see if I can get any of that lint out of there that I always blow into the bottom when I clean the bobbin case.  Two screws later I had the bottom off for the very first time!   Low and behold I had dust bunnies big enough to name!    Aren't you 2 proud of me...now if only I could find a way to make the darning foot stop squeaking!

Before Cleaning


After Cleaning




Saturday 1 December 2012

Soon There will Be Juice!

Life on the farm has been crazy!   First off I think I may have this blogger picture posting stuff figured out...Finally!   I have to save all the pictures I post on my blog in a low resolution.   I don't have a camera that takes low resolution shots so that means I have to reduce them all.   I have started to work through my blog album saved to Google so I now have some additional room to post more picture.   Lets just face it...A blog just wouldn't be as much fun of it had no pictures!

DH and I spent the day with my Dad working on the trench and putting the absolutely massive main power cable into the Big O pipe so that I could be buried in the trench.  As of tonight we have about 200 of the 400+ feet of cable buried.   The major line that runs from the central metering pole to the barn is over half way completed now.   Still have to trench the remainder, trench the barn to the shop line and also trench the pole to the house line.  Lots of work to do yet but it sure feels good to have this well underway.   We spent a month WAITING for Haldimand Hydro to get their part completed installing the pole at the road and then the contractor installing the pole along our driveway.  Living on the hill has it's advantages but when it came to this hydro install it was an added expense.   No standard 40 foot pole for this location; we had to have a special order 50 foot pole so that the ground clearance from the road would meet code.   It's been a bit hard for me to swallow the tremendous expense this upgraded is costing.   It hard because at the end of the day we have nothing really "extra" to show for the farm.   We just have hydro that meet code; something people expect!   HOwever it means that DH and I will be able to set up our respective hobby areas (DH = New Shop, Me = Arena) without any concerns for fire, overload or worrying that we will run out of power.    This new system will enable us to take 800 Amp form our new transformer...if we so need or desire it!  :-)

The trench form the central metering pole.

The guys on their toys.


We have been doing out part tho on energy conservation.   We have purchased some new lighting for the pastures that is an LED flood.   It's pretty amazing actually.   It's a 58W draw with the same candle power as a 250W Metal Halide bulb.   It's bright enough that it lights up the new shelter from where it hangs on the corner of the stable.   I love it and look forward to getting 2 more installed at the corners of the arena for the other pastures.

In the way of lighting...we now have switches for ALL of our silly barn lights that were plug ins at the back of the pump closet.   So nice to actually be able to walk in the barn door when it's late and just flick the switch on!   A farm girl can't be happier for modern conveniences!

Molly Update...
Molly met her cousin Bella today for the first time...they were instant buddies!   Bell was per babysitter for the day and Molly loved the attention!    Thank you Bell...it was wonderful to see you...wish we lived closer so we could ride together regular.
Molly made her first visit to the late night Emergency clinic on Thursday night.   She had her 12 week vaccination on after work and by 7:30 her face had swollen so much that she couldn't see and her years were 1/2" thick and burning hot.   Just makes me question again the need for vaccinations and the scepticism I hold with the drug companies.   What kinda junk are we injecting into our animals...because the vets tell us we have to or they will not treat our pets when they are legitimately sick.
Molly after a hard day playing with Bell!

I got a nice gift of labour from Bell as well today...she cleaned all of Izzy's tack.   It was a sore looking mess and need some TLC in the worst way.  I have to admit that all of Lynda's good practises I have watched over the years of cleaning all of her tack after EVERY ride has still not rubbed off on me!   :-)   I do however always clean my bit and boots after every ride...is that not some sort of restitution to get me out of purgatory?!   Thank you Bell...I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you did that for me!

Christmas decorating has started on the farm.   My mom has been busy making the house look festive.   NOt only has she done the planters by the road that I have already blogged about but she has suppled us with fresh handmade garlands and wreaths for the front and back doors.   She revitalized the planters at the pergola and also the large planter that we have moved to the circle drive.   When she arrived today she had more lovely wreaths with beautiful ribbons for all the doors to the barns.   Will take photos for next blog.   I love fresh greenery and these wreaths really make me feel joyful for the spirit of Christmas.   Thank you mom for all you do for us!   Dinner tonight was delicious after a full day outside in the cold.   Nothing like coming into a house, smelling of home cooking after a day like today!
The wreath on the kitchen door.


This has been a long one...too much to tell when you don't post for several days!

Encore Photo...Here are the Apple Cider Caramels from my earlier.


Tuesday 27 November 2012

Blogger Issues - Short Update

I have been absent from the blog lately as I have been spending my time trying to resolved the picture upload issue through blogger/picasa.   I think I may have found the issue with the upload size...the trouble is I already have over 180 picture in my blog so far and they all have to be resized to a smaller format...ONE at a time!

In the mean time tho, I must share the fun I had on Sunday.
My friend, co-worker and unfailing workout motivator, Lynn planted the seed of interest in running the Santa 5K in Hamilton.  We didn't run/walk for a top finish placing, but rather to finish and have a fun morning out.  
Here we are in our Santa suits.  

Then on Sunday afternoon I went out for my very first hack with both horses together with one of my best friends Reta.   Reta is by far one of the biggest influences in my life; a mentor, a friend, an inspiration.   Here we are on our way out to the back woods then over to the Grand River.


Molly "The Terrorist" Update
She's growing like a weed!  And her jaws are getting stronger and her hyperactivity is also showing an ever growing ferocity!   She's great on weekends when she has had time outside running and chewing and basically blowing off steam.  Weekdays tho when she is inside all day with nothing to do in her play pen...she becomes "The Terrorist" because she will bark, bite or bully anything she can influence into her sphere once she gets out of there.   We certainly have our work cut out for us for the next 2 years.

Thursday 22 November 2012

Let There be Light

With the time change life has changed considerably here on the farm.   It's dark out now by 5:15 pm and outdoor work has ground to pretty much a halt on weekdays after work.
Not that there isn't a full list of indoor jobs to do but the motivation has also slowed to a near death experience!   The work in the house just doesn't seem as much fun as the barn work!

The hydro has been getting fixed in the stable.  For some unknown reason the previous owners had all the stable lights as plugs at the back of a pump cabinet.   I know crazy; 1 - putting full strings of lights on receptacle plugs and 2 - having to climb into the back of the pump closet to plug them in when you wanted the lights on!  
We have had the local electrician (who is also our old neighbour from Decewsville Rd) rewiring the barn.   We have switches now for the stable lights, the aisle lights and the outdoor front barn lights.
We also now have a couple of plugs, which we had no plugs previously and the new wiring has been run for the new outdoor plug for the heated troughs and the LED flood light for the front 2 pastures.  
We also have the hydro service between the house and the barn marked so that the trenching can continue for the new service.   The first new pole is "supposed" to get installed tomorrow and then the second pole near the house on Monday or Tuesday.   Once the poles are in we can get the new transformer hooked up and that means the new hydro service to the barn and shop.  No more 30 amps running the entire lot of farm buildings!  

Even tho the motivation has been low for actual work around the house after dark, I have got the spark back for my baking urges.   (Uh-Oh, I can feel my clothes getting tight already!) I tried out a new recipe this week; Apple Cider Caramels from The Smitten Kitchen.   I have pictures to post however blogger has given me a limit on photos and I can't post them!   I am still pretty new to blogging, so if anyone out there has more info on how to get around the limit or if there is a new site that I can use please message me!!

I had a fabulous ride through the woods tonight on Izzy.  Just wonderful to get outside tonight before the darkness fell.  I timed it perfectly making it down the farm lane back to the barn by 5:10 pm.   There are so many trails to explore out back...I can't wait to get some of the farm stuff done so that I can venture out for hours at a time without having heavy guilt for being gone for so long on a perfect weather day.  (Knowing that there won't be too many more of those!)   The corn is now off out front by the river.   I was hoping for decent weather this weekend to take Izzy down to the river.

Baby Molly is growing and we have discovered that the dog we have on the weekend with loads of outdoor exercise is not the same dog that we have during the week when she spends the majority of her day in the crate.   The training is coming along very well.   There obviously has been the odd accident in the house...due to the lack of Mom and Dad paying attention that Miss Molly has woke up and should be put out!   DH has started to work on training her attention span.   At the moment its about the same as that of a goldfish!   This little dog is not interested in food treats...so motivating her to come when called hasn't been as easy as other dogs we have had.   Hopefully her ADD will disappear as she grows up...if not, we have a very long 10+ years ahead of us!!




Sunday 18 November 2012

Baby Molly and Beautiful Fall Weekend

We have decided on a name...Molly.
She's just such a little doll.   I can't believe that 15 pounds can exude so much love, enthusiasm and exuberance.   I also can't believe the set of lungs that a little 15 pounder has at night when she DOES NOT want to be in her crate.  DH being the big soft bleeding heart that I fell in love with has "rescued" her ever night except the first night since she arrived!   In all the years that DH and I have been together he slept his first night on the couch...with his little Princess baby sleeping with him!   I realized at that moment that I had once again slipped to the #2 spot in the household priority.  
The house has been restored to its previous level of chaos and I am loving every minute of it!

As I am sure you are all well aware...this blog will now be Molly focused as her antics continue to enrich the lives of those who live and visit us here on the farm!
 
Molly spent some time on the couch having her before bed nap.   I know some of you reading this are going Eek Gads...they are letting her on the furniture!  Yep...she's a family member so she gets a spot on the couch.   There are 2 types of homes; those with beautiful furniture and no pets and those with pets and functional furniture!   We have the later type of home.   Maybe in a couple years we will get some new furniture, once Miss Molly has finished her chewing phase.  Within 48 hours we knew we were going to be dealing with a chewer!   All the throw rugs have been stowed away, if not they would have been stowed away in Molly's bed...as anything she can pick up and carry ends up in her bed.


DH and I spent all day on Saturday re-leveling the stalls and putting in stall mats.   Who would have thought that adding stone dust, power compacting and then resizing stall mats would take so long!   Seven stalls are re-leveled and 6 stalls have mats now.   The other 3 stalls are full of hay for the pending winter, so we will have to get to those in the spring.   

Supervisor Molly found Kitty's barn bed and made herself at home.

DH and I took down the old owners tomato garden today.  We have been working away on cleaning up around the house before the winter hits.   Still lots of stuff to do, the job jar list doesn't seem to be getting much shorter.   The barn job jar list tho has been getting a series of things scratched off so I have been a happy wife!
BEFORE
Here's the south side of the house as it looked when we purchased.

AFTER
I know it looks pretty bare, but once the new perennial beds are put in it will look great.  I can't believe the change in the light inside the house; both in the living room and the guest room by having that big tree removed.


After 2 days in the barn reeking havoc helping, Molly was rather grimy.  Not to mention the kennel she was in was not exactly the cleanest..so she had a "bird bath" in the kitchen sink tonight.   Here she is getting her first bath.   She was a little superstar.   She didn't even try and climb out once!   I can't believe how we lucked out picking her.  <note - I will likely be eating these words within 30 days>   Dog shaming photos will follow as the need arises!


Wednesday 14 November 2012

The Silence Is Broken

The uncomfortable quiet of our home is now a thing of the past...<Insert goofy happy grin, school girl giggle and teary eyes of joy>!
Introducing the newest addition to our family.

This is our 9 week old bundle of joy.   Female Golden Retriever...yet to be named.
DH and I have not come to a satisfactory choice that we both love and don't feel silly calling it out at the top of our lungs in a busy dog park.

Stay Tuned...A door has closed and now; a window has opened!

Monday 12 November 2012

Christmas Decorating...has started!

Another crazy weekend concluded at HP Haven.
New horses arrived, trenching for the new hydro service is underway, horses have been trimmed, Christmas decorated has begun, shelter wall goes up...

My Dad started the trenching for the central metering for our new hydro service.   This is an anticipated additional to the farm...especially for DH.  He doesn't even have enough power to hook up his compressor at the moment and the arena lighting cannot be upgraded until this gets changed.
My dad just loves playing around on his tractor and digging is the thing he is known for.  ("Groundhog Trenching Service")   I don't think he had a sand box when he was a kid with Tonka toys!

Groundhog Trenching service hard at work.

The Trench so far.

...still another 100 feet to go before we reach the barn panel and then another trench to get to the house.

My mom was busy doing those tedious jobs...like mudding the holes in all the walls on the second floor.   That doesn't sound like a big job but if you have seen the second floor walls you would know otherwise.  The guest room was especially terrible including dozens of holes in the ceiling.   DH and I no longer looking in the bathroom mirror and thinking we are seeing a big black bug on the wall now that the hole opposite the mirror has been patched!
Mom also has a real amazing knack for arrangements.   She took care of preparing the driveway planters with the Christmas greenery.   Drove in tonight and seen these 2 beautiful pots and it sets a happy mood driving up the driveway.  
Thanks Mom...they look especially wonderful with horses in the background!  :-)


DH spent his wonderful warm Sunday afternoon closing in one wall of the old run in shelter my girls are living in.  No more hurricane wind blowing directly on my girls now!   Thank you Honey...you always but the girls and I first...even tho Sunday would have been a perfect day for the track.