December Blizzard

We woke up Monday morning to 15" of snow that had drifted in front of both our front and back doors.  Scout attempted to go out his doggie door but soon found himself up to his neck in snow.  He quickly retreated back into the house.
This is what our front looked like prior to snowblowing...

...and this is what it looked like while being snowblowed.

Needless to say, the snowmobile was then taken out and ridden across town to visit friends trying to plow out their driveway.
Ah, the bliss of winter snow.

The Great Deer Hunter



We are expecting the first real snowstorm of the season today.  All chores are done, we are buttoned up and ready to enjoy the day. 
The Great Deer Hunter is in his chair enjoying his favorite Christmas gifts...a camoflauge Snuggie and the book titled Deer Hunting 101.  I actually think he's napping, and instead of sugar plums he's got big bucks dancing in his head!

Holiday Hustle

We spent all day Saturday setting up the woodstove in the barn so we can at least be warm whilst working.  It was set up without incident, only once did Michael feel like he was falling off the ladder...I think it was the two lengths of triple wall lifted up and over his head that almost put him over.

Sunday we decided to butcher the meat chickens.  Fourteen birds plucked by hand...yes, by hand.  If there were one more bird to do I think I would have cried.  We had our first chicken dinner and it was fabulous.  We are now in the market for a plucking machine...anyone have one for sale??

Tonight was a breadmaking night.  I use a recipe for oatmeal sourdough bread that is terrific.  I've got Christmas baskets to make and everyone loves fresh bread.  It is rising in the kitchen right now, will be ready for baking in the morning.  The neat thing about sourdough bread is that it has no yeast in it.  It takes a bit longer to rise, but is well worth the wait.

As busy as we are, we're looking forward to the holiday and now I'm off to wrap gifts.

First Snow!

We woke up this morning to the first few inches of light, fluffy snow.  With all the wind last night the blowing snow gathered outside the kitchen door...I was shocked to step outside to feed Gambino this morning and find myself knee deep in snow!  Winter has arrived.  I'm not happy, but Michael is looking forward to ripping around on the snowmobile. 
Check out the yard this afternoon...footsteps to the horse and all!

Pheasant Friend

I looked out the kitchen door this afternoon and found a wayward pheasant at our door.  He made his way out back and after doing chores we found him in Gambino's paddock.

Beautiful colors, lots of blue, too small to even consider for a meal!  Michael went out to sprinkle scratch feed for him and unless a greedy neighbor decides to shoot him, he may well end up another yard ornament around here. 

It's been a while...

It's been a while since the last post...it isn't as though nothing has happened, more like lack of time to blog...

The weather the last month has been unbelievably windy.  We had several trees topple in Gambino's pasture and the llamas had a tree land on their house!  After the chainsaws stopped roaring, the bonfires began.  All is well now, though, the girls have a new house and Gambino has more room to race around when he wants.

Our freezeless hydrant was no longer freezeless because the gaskets were shot.  Thank goodness my husband is so smart because he got the whole thing taken apart and put back together...no extra parts...and it works.  Winter water is the worst to deal with, and we cannot do without running water outside.

The meat chickens are almost ready.  It is unreal how quickly they grew.  We are in the market for a plucking machine and I'm seriously hoping one shows up soon.  I cannot imagine plucking by hand!

The pigs, Patty and Link, are growing up too.  We found them running around the backyard on Thanksgiving and they got quite jiggy when they saw us.  The managed to figure their way OUT of their pen, but couldn't get back in.  They happily followed me back to their house and, once the gate was opened, they trotted right back in!  They don't put on weight as quickly in the cold, but they are doing well.  They absolutely love the frozen pumpkins we break up for them.  It is quite funny to watch them toss them around before devouring them.

We are looking forward to the holidays.  I'm hoping to get our tree up this weekend...we'll see how it goes.