February 21, 2014

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!!
♥♥♥

27 comments:

  1. good girl Lily, you keep an eye on those chicks. love that sweet face at the end

    ReplyDelete
  2. Too cute your chickens in the laundry room ~ love it !
    Glad to see you back in blog land :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love those chickens in the laundry room. I'm so ready for spring, more so than ever before if that's possible. We can't say we haven't had any winter weather this year. Hugs, xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. I and glad to see you survived the snow and Ice and everyone is in good shape. I love your sewing room and I want that table! You have lovely colors that spark the old brain juices itching to create. What is your embroidery machine format? PES or ???

    LOVE the Chicken Hotel... THEY are truly blessed. NOW as for the bees, I so wish you could talk to my friend, they keep losing hives each year, last year they had a bumper crop of honey and then throught the cold they lost them. Do you have a vent on top of the hive? Do you seal them in? Do you cover the hive? Could it be that you have cold weather most of the winter and we only get burst of cold? I so wish I could help him keep his bees, he loves them so and truly puts in the time.

    HUGS and kiss Miss L for me!
    GOD bless and keep you all safe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Paula, the sheep are delightful! And the hens look so cute in the holiday hen. This winter has been tough for so many. We had temperatures of -41 here in Montreal the first week of January.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have missed you. I was so excited to see you had a post.
    Our winter in Wisconsin will be one I tell my grandkids about. -35!!! Windchills making it -60. And get this, we went for 46 days with below zero weather! In a row...46 days in a row. Can I tell I have cabin fever :-)

    Love seeing your sheep.
    And I love your sewing room.
    Have a great weekend.
    Carla

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your sewing room and the way you have everything so neatly and conveniently laid out. I'm still laughing about Lily checkin in on the poultry chamber. She's so funny. I see she has a little bed nearby you while you're sewing. Yeah, I'd keep a guy that would haul water uphill for me too! Can you believe it's almost March?

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Holiday Hen. Hahahaha! Tell me it isn't a Tennessee thing with the silly namings of places and things. Have mercy. Glad to see you post. It's been far too long.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I knew your place was beautiful in the sunshine, but it is also gorgeous covered in snow. What a lot of it! Your sewing room is very inviting. I love the colors and it is so tidy. It makes me want to go clean up my own little work space. We are enjoying some really pretty weather here in tx today. So pretty, in fact, we are all sneezing our heads off. :) Many blessings to you and yours! -Leslie

    ReplyDelete
  10. The new sewing room is lovely and thank God I don't have to carry water. I'm tired of winter and tired of chores and spring cannot come quickly enough.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Goodness...what a little slice of heaven! Your barnyard family is quite spoiled...as it should be really...you both are splendid and caring parents indeed.
    I do love your new sewing room...cozy, tidy, and ready for a whirlwind of creativity! I shall patiently wait for a "show-and-tell."
    Sending love and hugs your way ...
    Judy xo

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love all the photos sweet friend! There MUST be a better way to have a line of water for the animals at the barn....I'll ask my hubby (the plumber) if he has any super duper ideas that maybe you could implement this Summer...
    hughugs

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Paula, I'm so glad to see that you are well and making the most of winter. It has been a strange winter to say the least. I love that you take such good care of your animals! I'm like you, we care for our animals well too. I had a vet tell me one time that he wanted to be one of my horses. LOL We no longer have our hens, it got to be too much trouble and expense to care for them......We had a really big problem with wild birds going into the hen house and eating all the food. They would go through a bag a food a day. So I opted to give up the hens when my hubby offered to turn the hen house into a nice tack room for the horse's saddles and bridles and such. Sorry I haven't been around for awhile, I recently lost my dad and brother to cancer. I am trying to get back to my normal routine now. Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Paula, just realized I had not seen posts from you and checked in... same stuff here, too, only no wonderful fire in the hearth. I can't believe the chickens STAYED in the bins!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your sewing room is just perfect. All the thread organized, and everything is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Checking in to see tif that weather has been having you
    too upside down and topsy turvey .
    We have been missing you here.
    Hope all is well,
    Willow

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello dear one-
    I am still giggling over the chickens! I would do the same thing!
    Love your new room-and the photo of your cozy wood stove. I see Lily's bed near it! Does she have a bed for each room? What a snoozer she is!
    Love, Debra

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great winter photos. Look back on the in July and remember...
    I hope you are coming into a little spring by now.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I know exactly what you mean about spring. This winter has been the worst one I can remember with super-low temps and SO. MUCH. SNOW. The chickens didn't come out of their coop for 3 weeks straight because they don't like to stand in the snow.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Came back and reread your post ~ it is wonderful that your hubby still makes you swoon :)
    That last photo is fantastic. Hope we will se more of your beautiful photos this Spring.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love your sewing room and the way you have everything so neatly and conveniently laid out. I'm still laughing about Lily checkin in on the poultry chamber. She's so funny. I see she has a little bed nearby you while you're sewing. Yeah, I'd keep a guy that would haul water uphill for me too! Can you believe it's almost June?

    ReplyDelete
  22. wonderful photos...Thank you so much...Keep updating..zarah from bizbilla.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, it helps me a lot, really appreciated!
    pest control Michigan

    ReplyDelete
  24. Afraid of Spiders & Rodents? You don't have to because now you have jeffthebugguy.com to eradicate this problem for you.
    Spider Control Services Michigan

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a comment~ I would love to hear from you!