January, February....

Time has a way of getting by without realizing.....
I haven't written anything on here since the first of January, and now I'm wondering now where the last seven weeks have flown to. *Sigh*

Everyone around here is okay, including the critters; but the weather sure has been keeping us on our toes lately. 

For instance, this was what it looked like here last Thursday~

And yesterday? It was 74 degrees and thunderstorms. 

Warm enough that even the bees came out of their winter slumber 

and were venturing away from the hive, looking for water.

A few weeks ago everything was covered over with ice as the temperatures stayed in single digits and teens here for several days.... here I am trying to thaw the sheep's water out with a torch.

The sheep did not like my torch and ran out immediately. 

(No doubt fearing I would blow up the barn...)

The chickens got to stay inside for a few nights in the Holiday Hen (laundry room) 

when the temperatures were near zero.

As you can see, Lily is checking on them to see if the accommodations were to their liking. 

(She did this every few minutes until I finally had to close the door.)

The weather has been a great excuse for spending lots of time in my new sewing room... 

I've finally had the chance to go through my fabric piles and sort them and organize all my tools. 

This is my cutting table/area hubby fixed for me~ 

I have all my rulers, scissors, and rotary tools here close at hand plus a huge self-healing cutting mat. 

I also love that he put casters on the bottom of the cutting table, 

so I can roll it around the room if I need to. *squeal*

Of course, Lily has supervised all this organizing from her favorite spot.

I'm really glad we cut extra firewood last winter, 

because we have been using it up quickly just keeping the house warm. 

Fires are so cozy...

Getting water to the animals in the winter can sometimes be a headache, especially since the outside spigots had to be covered in insulation to keep them from freezing. When the temperature was near or below freezing, we had to carry water in 5-gallon buckets to the barn. 

If you want to know how out of shape you are, try carrying two at a time up a hill. 

Trust me, it is a humbling experience. *UGH*

Here is my sweetie, carrying water to the sheep barn for me when he got home from work. 

I think I'll keep him. *Swooon*

I think I can safely say we are all looking forward to Spring this year... I hope it arrives soon.

Especially since I think the sheep (Daisy, in particular) are thinking about moving to Florida.

Happy Friday, everyone~ I have lots of catching up to do with all my blog friends!!

♥♥♥