The Horses have a Pasture!

Tomorrow is the big move!!   OMG how did this day get here already when I haven't even finished half of the things my to do list had on it!

Today was a work day prepping the front pasture and the old run in shelter for the horses to move tomorrow.   After my Dad's labour yesterday removing all the wire fencing, I needed to go around to every post and remove the extra insulators and reinstall insulators at the correct heights for the 4 strands of new electric rope fencing.   Then between Chris and I we were able to install the 3 top strands and we left the bottom strand off because the weeds are so incredibly tall that they require a serious weed whacker of bush hog.   Not having the bottom strand on the fencing will make not only the task of bush hogging easier but also stringing that strand will be WAY easier once the weeds are gone.

Chris and I spent the rest of the late afternoon until dark making the old run in shelter safe enough for short term use.   The metal siding had been cut and was jagged all across the top and along the 2 side openings.   The previous owner had also cut out a major support beam for the wall so Chris made a new beam and installed that to ensure that it was safe.  

My Dad braved the weed whacking along the fence line that follows the driveway.   He was half way down the lane and I looked over form the far corner of the field and couldn't believe the transformation something as simple as weed whacking could make!   Looks great and again I am going tout the benefits of a little elbow grease!   Thanks Dad!   Now if only I could convince him to just use the bush hog along the road instead of doing the manual weed whacking.   He seriously loves manual labour; I guess that's why he stays in such good shape.

Mom was busy, busy, busy again in the house removing the tape from the painting projects she was working on and cleaning the entire house so that it's ready for the move in of our furniture tomorrow. We came in for lunch and wow there had been a transformation from the past 2 weeks.   The main floor looked and smelled so much better.   Thanks Mom!

Once again I can't thank my parents enough for all the help they have given DH and I since our purchase of HP Haven.   Love you both...thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Had a pop in visit from Kelly and Phil just before dark.  Thanks guys for all your congrats and support of our new project.   It was fun showing you around so that you can see were we started on our journey.   Can't wait to see your new home blossom next year!

Well...pics to come after move in...it's been a whirlwind and tomorrow is the big move.
Feeling a bit nostalgic tonight since this is our last night before we move to the farm.   So happy to be moving into our very own farm but this home was our first together and it has been a labour of love too.   Finishing our basement, building our little barn and adding to our garage.  There has been alot of changes to this home in 9 years, I can only imagine how amazing HP Haven will be 9 years from now.   :-)

Painting and Stall Scouring

It's been a very busy 2 days.  Mom has been painting like crazy and the living room, library area, office area and master bedroom have all been painted.    There is still a lot of house left to paint but we can work away on all the remaining rooms over time once we get moved in.

We had a hot but productive day yesterday with the help of BFF Heather.   We stripped the stalls in the barn and then took down the large pasture fencing at our little farm.   The fields look "naked" without the fencing!   Having an extra set of hands was a huge help and saved a lot of extra miles on my feet walking around taking all the fencing insulators out of the fencing.   Thank you Heather...it was a nice work day with you and the chocolate was perfect!  :-)

My Dad has also been very busy!   He has taken down 3 strands of wire off the front pasture at the farm.  The old owners had sheep and horses in the front pasture and all the fencing is falling down and coming unwound.    He put on several miles today as he walked the fence line 3 times to unstring and wind up the wire.   Wire is all gone and now tomorrow we can string the new fencing so that my girls will have a safe and secure pasture for arrival this week.   Dad even worked through the rain today outside to get the job done.   He also took down the cattle stocks at the back of the 40 acres of pasture.    We won't be needing cattle stocks and since they are not in good shape it will be nice to have the area cleaned up so it can be farmed.

Seriously, DH and I have no idea what we would have done this past 2 weeks without the help of my parents.   It's been so amazing having them working side by side both DH and I...really a great time in my life.

Chris and I scoured the stalls in the barn.   Chris ran the pressure washer and I was the labourer on the end of the scouring brush.   I don't need P90X this week!    What a total body work out.   I don't think the stalls have been washed once since the day they were installed.   DH actually thought they had painted the bottom 2 boards black; not realizing that they were just so coated in horse poo that they were no longer wood coloured!   They were very gross but now they are washed, scrubbed with disinfectant and rinsed.   Fans are running full blast overnight to help dry the place out.   It looks fantastic and it never ceases to amaze me how a little elbow grease can make such a difference.

We also had our first farmer drop by asking about renting our land.

Floors are Finished!

Lots to share since my last post!   

DH and I have been burning the midnight oil trying to get the floors on the second level refinished with enough time for them to cure before the furniture moves in next week.  Tonight was the earliest night this week were we left the house by 6 pm and off to the Home Depot to buy more paint by 7:15 pm.   As we walked in we found out that they close at 8 pm so had 15 minutes to rush around to buy the essentials before they closed.    I got the 2 gallons of paint I needed for tomorrow...so life is good!   Latest night we were home by 12:30…Hubby thought I was just crazy but I was NOT leaving until the stain was on the floor because there was just no way I could face coming back the next morning to have to wear the respirator and hot disgusting rubber gloves.  My hands were beyond prune like.   This made the days when I was a kid and stayed in the tub too long look like nothing…my palms were even wrinkly and I could dump the sweat out of the gloves…GROSS!

I am very happy to report now tho that the floors are FINISHED!!!   They turned out darker than I had expected form the 2"x2" sample they have at Home Depot but I still really like them.  I picked Chocolate as the stain colour, I thought that suited me.  :-)   It turns out chocolate should read "Dark" Chocolate rather than what my brain registered as "Milk" Chocolate.  

In the series of pictures below you can see the stages that took a full week to complete…from carpet remove which I posted in a previous blog post to tonights post with the final sanding and finish coat complete.   DH and I stopped on our way back form Home Depot tonight to have one last look to see how they turned out now that they are dry enough for light foot traffic.   In the dark with the lights the wood grain highlights are fantastic and I am so pleased that we decided to put in the sweat equity because I know they have already increased the value of the house over that nasty carpeting from a week ago.

This is me sanding…this was the easy sanding part using the drum sander.   I think I put on about 10K of walking tho with the number of passes and the square footage that was sanded.   

I missed getting pictures of the brutal sanding of the edging.   You can see form the picture above that the last 6 inches against the walls still needed the paint removed.   I seriously thought my back was going to be permanently damaged from holding on to that little devil of a hand sander.   It was a power house and worked great but I totally understand why the guy at Home Depot said, "Make sure you have a good hold on this unit when you flick the switch on with your thumb."  This is the floors with the edging completed.

And Tad-Daaa!!   Here are the finished floors.   I think they look fantastic.   The pictures really don't do them justice as they look black and they are not really this dark in person.

In other news at the house we had a lovely visit from Karen and Ben.   Thank you for the delicious house warming home baking!  Always love fresh baking and they fuelled the late nights.  Cheers!

Once again I need to give credit to my parents for coming out this week and helping with all the things my brain had planned to do but like normal for me I never estimate enough time to get things done!   (I think I have this same issue when I go to retreat…10 projects on the list but just a fraction of them completed!)   

My Dad and Mom spent a day ripping out a tree that had grown very large right beside the house.   I am talking within 6" of the foundation wall.  There was also a grape ivy that had grown all along the wall of the garage that was so heavy that it was ripping the eaves trough off the roof!   It's now all gone and the light that is now able to get into the living room and the spare room (AKA Heather's room) is terrific.   We had thought the living room was rather dark but not anymore.

My Mom has been busy cleaning and painting.   Dishwasher is now clean…not sure how it actually cleaned dishes when she had to scrape guck out of it using a knife.

Mom painted the living room...she's going to kill me for putting this pic of her up on my blog but DH and I have appreciated the help so much.   We could never have been ready to move in in 2 weeks without the help of her and my Dad.

I painted the kitchen between coats on the floor upstairs.   It's a spring yellow.   I wanted cheerful and I think it was achieved here.   

With the living room and kitchen painted they both look really fresh and clean.   (*Clean - it's a miracle*)   Still need to add the accent colour to the living room fire place and office off the living room.

I think I will indulge myself in the luxury of a ride on Baby Izzy tomorrow before breakfast…my first this week!   I've missed the saddle but the work at the farm has been very rewarding.

But lastly, I need to sign off tonight with a photo of the project supervisor.   It was hot today so supervision stayed in the coolest spot in the house and basically made for road blocks and detours throughout the day.

Refinishing Continues

The floors upstairs are coming along nicely.   I think my body has had a serious kicking done to it but it's that kinda hurt that you are happy about!  :-)   Not much cardio but the flexibility and strength training are in full gear.   I spent about 13-14 hours drum sanding the entire second floor.   They look pretty good for being 100+ years old.   Chris only had to make 2 patches.   It appears that the stove pipes used to come up through 2 of the rooms upstairs.   Maybe there were only 2 rooms upstairs???

Tomorrow I start the edging and do the doorways and around the wardrobes.   I am hoping that they go as well as the middle of the floors.   Time is ticking on the move in clock and I still have to stain and clear coat...AND that's just to finish the flooring!  Still have wall paint and outside work to get done before the horses move in.   I know it will all get done...I am just working through the order of go and trying not to get too stressed out by the length of the list.

Here is a sanded picture of the master bedroom to compare with my previous post.















My parents have been so amazing.   They cleaned the entire loft of the bank barn!   It looks fantastic and there are only a couple of soft spots and holes that will need to be repaired.   I don't know how many loads of garbage and dead hay they took out but it had to be a ton.   I will take a picture of the loft now that it's clean...what a transformation.   I seriously don't know what we would have done this week without their help.   My mom has been...well super mom!  :-)   She has brought delicious and healthy meals everyday.   It's been a real treat having them enjoy this adventure with us.

Lastly, on a very sad note a dear friend Sharon suddenly lost her beloved horse Fraiser this week.   He was a Emma's turnout buddy for many years.   Fras was a lovely hack horse and real ham for the camera.   I know that horses are not forever but to lose one still hurts.   My love to Sharon in her time of loss...it will never get easier losing a friend that we spend many, many hours of our lives with.

When a horse enters our life they give us a little piece of their heart; so that when they leave us they can take a little piece of our heart with them.   Much Love Sharon...

Day 1 of Renos

Today the filth was tackled as well as the removal of the carpet on the second floor.
I have to give a HUGE shout out to my mom who dawned an elbow length set of rubber gloves and spent 4 hours cleaning the fridge, stove and one small bank of cupboards.   It was sparkling clean when she finished and I can't tell you how much I appreciated the help.
We now have beer and coolers in the fridge; thanks to Heather for stopping in and giving us a great reason to have a break!  Thanks Girl...you're a keeper!  :-)

I spent my day ripping up old carpet from the second floor.   It had to be at least 25 years old and had seen more than one puppy being trained by the look of the stained and nearly disintegrated under pad.

DH spent most of the day with my Dad unloading the supplies for the new run in shelters for the pastures (Thanks Dad!) and walking the fence lines through the pastures in search of the survey stakes.   I think both my Dad and Chris will sleep well tonight after all the miles they put on!

A big thanks goes out to MIL Marlene as well for stopping in with her endless enthusiasm for our new adventure.   We need the hype and the encouragement during all this reno work...as it will be exhausting by the end of the first 2 weeks...then we actually move in and continue.
Kelly and James stopped in to congratulate us on the new project...always love the hugs from Kelly...so genuine and sincere.
We have a great support network...thanks everyone for being with us and helping us either by labour, love or kindred spirit.

Now a couple pics to show you what I accomplished today.

Staircase before and after carpet removal.

Master bedroom before carpet removed.

Master bedroom with carpet removed.

We got so lucky that the entire second floor is all original plank flooring.   Not quite so lucky on the stairs but I couldn't be happier that the floors are in as good a shape as they are for being 140+ years old!

This is the hallway upstairs...more fantastic plank flooring!

Living The Dream!

We got the farm tonight!

As we expected the place was in quite a mess.   I am not really sure how people have a conscience leaving a place in the condition that we got our house tonight.   I won't elaborate too much about the mess that we encountered but we have roughly 3 days worth of elbow grease to clean up alone!   To give you an idea of what we found tonight...the oven looks like it was never cleaned other than the self clean setting on the odd occasion.   There is ash and petrified food coating the bottom and the fridge wasn't even wiped out!   The rotten leaves from the lettuce that fall off are still in the drawers and there are multiple crusty milk carton rings.
Thank goodness we are ripping up all the carpeting because I don't think in the 7 years they lived there they ever vacuumed under the bed!  I think you get the picture I am painting here.   I won't post any of the pictures from today of the inside of the house...maybe tomorrow after a bit of cleaning!

I am not surprised however that we have got the house in this condition.   After the events of this week, I am actually surprised it wasn't worse.   It is however a disappointment in a way to find the place like this.   I have a lot of pride in my home and I want to the new owners that take over our home in 2 weeks to be just in love with this place as I am.   I want them to know that just because we are leaving this place, it has been a home to us...it's been more to us than just a house.

Onward and Upward...
DH and I took a ride on our bikes to the bush line of the property.   It's farther back than we thought!   The exploration of the woodlot will be more fun from horseback.   I have heard from a couple of different riders now that we have a spectacular trial out back that goes for miles.  Eek!  I can't wait to get lost for hours with my GPS!
I am really looking forward to getting the bush hog hooked up and cutting the trails and making all the improvements that I have been dreaming of.    O time...time will be my enemy now.   So many plans in my head.  I will have to keep my expectations realistic and remember to recharge my batteries with creative fun in my studio.
Looking forward to Day 1 Work Day tomorrow!   Stay Tuned.

 The view of the bush line from the last hill in the hay field.

 DH on the trail.   Overgrown but not for long!!

Me on the trial.   Was glad that we brought our bikes

 or it would be a 30 minute walk to get to the bush line.

I know this one is dark but I was shooting into the sun...better pics to come later.   This is the view of the barn zoomed in from the bush line.

Lawyer's Done

We have signed all the paperwork...just waiting for the call tomorrow to come and get the keys!!!

After yesterday's incident today went much smoother than I anticipated.   It's been a funny sort of feeling lately; we always expect something to be a problem now.  I really need to get out of this mindset!

There has been a great debate in the Dunbar house the past few days on what will be our first order of business for the first "work day" at the new farm.   I am voting on rip out ALL the carpet on the second floor.  It's very old and looks like it could be in the neighbourhood of a dozen dogs and 3 cats ago or maybe 25 years old!   From a peek at a corner near a register it looks like it's tongue and grove plank flooring that would be original to the house.   DH believes that we should just start cleaning the basement and garage out so that he has a place to move his tool into and the electrician won't be covered in cobwebs trying to update our panel.   I think it may be a coin toss or a divide and conquer approach!

To take this in a new direction from the moving plans, I had a fabulous ride on Izzy tonight.   She was all business tonight and I was playing with all the buttons to see how light and soft I could ask for all the tricks that she knows.  

Once again, I am lucky beyond belief!  Yeah Me!

Final Walk Thru

Tonight was our final walk through of the farm prior to purchase and closing this Friday.
As we should have expected, this like every other interaction on this property did not go smoothly!
After getting the OK from our Realtor that we could bring our contractors through to get them to assess the work that we are asking them to do starting on Saturday; the home owner would not allow them on the property!!   Seriously, I don't know what goes through some people's heads but the reality of the situation is they are gone in 2 days so what's the big deal??  

I find this frustrating because we have accommodated every request the home owners have asked from us...including making inclusions that they asked for AFTER our deal was signed.   If there are hard feelings about the deal, they always had the opportunity to turn our offer down.  They accepted...it's not like we forced the deal on them...so why be like that?   I just don't get it.

I guess I will always look at the glass as being half full even when those I am dealing with seem to think it's half empty.   I get that moving is a life experience...I am in the middle of it too!   It's stressful, time consuming and energy draining.   But on the flip side it means a new beginning, a change for the better and a chance to have a fresh start.   It's a choice and I am responsible for my choices...I choose to be grateful that I have this opportunity to move into a farm, keep my horses at home and share this experience with a man I truly love and respect.   Life really is good...even when it has tough people to deal with!  :-)

It's Nearing Official

We signed the second batch of legal papers for the finances for the new farm tonight.   I have re-affirmed to DH (Dear Husband) that broke and happy are nearly perfect states of mind and being for us!    Legal Stuff is completed on Thursday and we get the keys on Friday!
I have been ricocheting between two states in my head the past weeks.   Sheer joy and excitement to be moving to a horse farm...A childhood dream realized.   Then the 180 of it is the scared to death fear; thinking about, 'O My!  What have we done?'    I know the first state will prevail.   It's just more me than the later, but once in awhile the sheer magnitude of what lies ahead is overwhelming.

On a fun note...well fun for me, not so fun in the eyes of Hubby...I have put a ban on grocery shopping until we move!   Only purchases of fresh fruit and veggies are allowed now.   We have to eat the stuff we have in the house so that there is less to move.   I find this sort of thing a challenge.   Hubby finds me morbid and on the curse to make him lose a few pounds!   I can eat cheese and crackers for dinner and find that to be a perfectly fine meal.   Hubby on the other hand would be wondering where the meat is.   Should get interesting in about 2 weeks from now; especially because we have very few pots and pans and backing dishes left in the cupboards.   I have a strong suspicion that on the night DH is cooking it will be pizza night!

To help the grocery cause tonight I did away with 2 pie crusts that were in the freezer!    Fresh peach pie.   For all of you that were feeling sorry for DH losing a few pounds with my inventory reduction tactic...rest easy...I don't think there is much to worry about with pie on night #1!

Birthday Dinner for Two

After nearly 2 months with no rain to really speak of, we have had rain for the last several days and today was no exception.  Major storm at 4 am.   Huge clap of thunder that shook the entire house.   I started awake from a dead sleep and burst out with a "Holy Crap"!   Hubby jumped up and decided he needed to look for Miss Kitty since she was outside.   :-)   I know, he tells everyone he doesn't like the cat!   We all know he's a big softy!  

But without rain we would never have rainbows.  I caught this beauty on the way to dinner.   It actually spanned over the hwy and I could see the full arch on both ends.   Small wonders...and proof once again that there is always something good to be found even when things are seemingly bad.   If we never had any rainy days we would never have rainbows!

Today is my hubby's birthday.   He's a wonderful man and I count my blessings everyday that we have found each other.   I am sure we knew each other in a pervious life...it's just that easy together.

We enjoyed dinner for 2 at the local fine dining establishment in our home town.   As always Chef Dan and the staff at Twisted Lemon did not disappoint us.

Moving prep continued today with waining zeal in this last weekend before we take possession of the farm.   My studio is fully packed now.   Only thing left out are the ribbons Izzy won last year in competition.   I will pack those tomorrow as I re-ride those tests and fondly remember my first season with her.   Best show of the year was the season opener in Peterborough were the crew from Bennville all made the trek to compete.   The girls bought me a birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to me in the barn.   Izzy scored a monster score of 80.6% in the FEI 4 Year Old Class.   It was the perfect start to a her show career and it was even more special sharing it with Chris and my friends.   Great memories!

Zip Lining and Packing the Studio

Was lucky to get away from the grind of packing for the last 2 days to celebrate my second nieces Grade 8 graduation with her.   Instead of a grad gift I like to give the gift of an experience that we share together...so this year we went Zip Lining in Collingwood.
Wow!   What a rush...even in the rain!
We did the Eco Adventure with the treetop walk and zip lining.   Wonderful time...would love to do it again some day when the weather is sunny and clear.   One of the look out points has a view of Georgian Bay and from the height that we were at I can imaging it was stunning...but all we could make out were the trees below us since the fog had rolled in so thick!  :-)
Check out the great views that can be seen from the Scenic Caves website.

Here we are a soggy bunch of adventure seekers!  Mom, Marina, Jenna and I.

This is a shot of the girls high up and ahead of me int eh tree top walk.

This a cave that we explored as part of our tour.

Now back to reality!   I got home late afternoon and started to pack up my studio.   I had one last creative project laid out on my table for about 2 weeks.  I had hoped to design, start and finish before I packed this room.   However, I succumbed to my fate, that my overly ambitious mind was just that...overly ambitions and it would not be practical to start yet another new project right before we move.   So I regretfully packed all the hand picked fabrics into individual baggies and then laid them to rest in a tote to be moved with all the others.

Here's the progress in the studio.

The entire house is a total disaster and I am trying to let go of organization at the moment.   Hard for this left brained techy type...but I really am trying!

I started to read a new book (well actually I re-started reading it.   The Fifty Shades smut got me side tracked!)    I am reading the Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor.  If you haven't seen his TED talk about his book and his work on positive psychology; I highly suggest you check it out...really worth the 10 minutes to watch.  Shawn Achor's TED Talk.

What a Victory!

I know this hasn't got a lot to do with the pending move, however it speaks to me on so many levels I just had to share it here.

This is a photo of the gold medal British Team for the Olympic Dressage.   The part that speaks to me is the young woman on the right Charlotte Dujardin...wearing a helmet on the podium with a gold medal around her neck.  
Thank you Charlotte for being a difference maker in so many aspiring young equestrians lives...you are the role model our sport needs.   Not only do you have fantastic talent, but you have common sense and thoroughly understand the impact you have as a public face of dressage.  Cheers to you and you looked fantastic scoring that giant score in your helmet.   Click the link for the full story Chronical of the Horse - Great Britian Gold

Photo by Kat Netzler

From the home front...
Izzy has popped a giant splint on her RF.   Not sure what caused it but she was clean this morning at feed time.   I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, the pastures here are like clay concrete.    Good news is she is not unsound at all.   However, the large globe grape on her inside cannon is a real eye sore.   I can only hope that time will be in her favour and she will reabsorb at least some of that monstrosity!  

A Perfect Summer Day

Really...could today have been more perfect?    I did almost all of my favourite things today.    It was a blessing of a long holiday weekend day off.   Lets start with the weather.   Sunny, blue sky, warm breeze and 25 degrees C.    What a welcome break from the stifling heat and humidity.

Started my day with a hack through Taquanyah on Izzy.   She was a perfect lady with just the right combination of energy and relaxation.

Came home and trimmed her feet, where she stood like an angel and made my job easier.   I have no idea how trimmers do 20 horses in a day!!   Kudos to them and they must have Olympic back strength.

Finally with a break in the heat I was able to thin out my front garden.   It has been sadly neglected for most of the summer so far.   Just to dang hot to be out there poking about and splitting plants.   AND since watering plants tends to get bumped down the priority list these plants would never have made it through the scorching summer we have had if I had been ambitious in the heat!
Packed a bunch of boxes of garden items from the shed.   A day can't go by now without something getting packed for the pending move.

I got to finish the last novel in the Fifty Shades Trilogy.   Ok, Ok I know what you are thinking...and yes they are pure smut!   The writing is terrible and the plot is pretty weak but it was an interesting escape and provided some mindless reading on vacation.   I admit I even had to google a few things that I had no idea what they were when I was reading those books.   I didn't think I was a sheltered farm girl but all I can say is I am glad I didn't google those topics at the office; I could have been fired!  

Ended my day with a steak and shrimp BBQ on the deck with Hubby.  

A perfect summer day in every way!   Just the right amount of work, rest and play.

Packing & The Swallows

The packing has continued for the long weekend.   The majority of the things in the house are packed and now it's just sorting through a few things that were packed in haste prior to sale.   The shop is a whole separate post for another day!   I tried to "stage" our house a wee bit when it was listed.   I took down all the photos and removed a lot of the personal items from throughout the house.   Well I didn't exactly organize those items as they got stowed away, so there will be some mystery boxes when we arrive at the new farm if I don't get a chance to repack those.

It's been unbelievable the amount of things that I have thrown away, given away or donated!   I am so proud of myself (Insert silly grin here!)

Packed the horse products today...thru out half the ointments and liniments that were from God knows when and MUST be past their expiration dates!   I got to the back of the shelf and found stuff I had forgot I had.   I reassessed the inventory and vowed I would keep better track of things...will see how that goes.   I am sure you are all laughing about now or sympathizing with me because you too have  made the same vow to yourself in the past.   I know I shouldn't need Quick Braid for another century since I have a half gallon jug of the stuff!

This is a shot of my emptied tack locker and then it stuffed and organized.  I had not actually emptied and cleaned this locker since the day my cousin Alan made it for me 4 years ago.  "Gasp!"   I know, tisk, tisk but it was just always so far down the list of priorities.

I thought I would share a picture of something I will miss when we move.   These little guys are about ready to fly the coop any day now.   For several years now a pair of barn swallows has taken up residency on the light at our back door.   In the first years hubby tried to thwart their attempts by taking down the nest during construction.   Hubby hates the mess these birds leave...more to follow on that subject!   It turns out they are persistent and just continued to start over; so he gave up and now lets them live in peace.   I professed their good graces by how few mosquitoes we have and there are zero (absolutely zero) spiders living at the back breezeway.
This is batch #2 of fledglings for this year...3 in total but they are a bit shy.  Once they get a bit larger there will be little heads poking over the edge in all directions.

So this is the part that hubby absolutely hates about these birds.   I figure it's a small sacrifice since they do their part taking care of the bugs.

Welcome to Horsepower Haven

Welcome!
This blog is a personal journal to document the move to our new 108 acre horse farm.  Once we have moved in, I hope to use it to keep track of our adventures over time.  It will provide a place to share with my family and friends the happenings around the farm; the good and hopefully not too many bad times that life has in store for us here as we develop and grow at Horsepower Haven Homestead.
Enjoy!

The HP Haven journey starts with packing and saying goodbye to the place I have called home for the last 10 years.   I will document that part of the journey in the next 2 weeks; because that's the part we are living right now!  The packing, the mess, and the very cleansing purging of clutter.

Let me introduce you to the new farm...

 This is the new house.   It's a circa 1870's farm house. (more photos of the house to follow at move in!)

 This is the view from the pasture looking back at the arena and barns.

This is the entrance from the road...I have always wanted a tree lined driveway!