I think I burnt my face from being out in the sun for like 45 minutes, hauling weeds to the dumpster one load at a time. I might have scared Vegas... hopefully the red will fade as I cool down - so gross to have sweat DRIP down your temples!
Not to mention the cleavage sweat.
Women will know what I'm talking about! Men will just see the word "cleavage" and get fixated.
As I type this I'm watching my boy dream, paws a-twitchin' and face a-blinkin' - it's amazing how much his health has improved since the move. I hadn't realised how stressed out he had gotten during the spring...
Soooo bloody glad it's all behind us now.
Dante comes home this weekend, can you believe it? I hope Vegas is ready for all the disruption and potty training, I'm just there to feed the clan and take pics!
No pics of the potty training though - you people have got the worst minds! LOL
My stupid back is on the way out again... I try to take it easy but there's always something to do, like hoovering every 3 days (and that takes two hours), weeding and raking, shoveling and fixing... Gaah.
I'm super fed up with those grapevines, I just can't see the end of it. I'm not even half-done with those fuckers and all for nothing since there are no grapes to speak of this year. Next year, though, if all goes well, we could get up to a ton of grapes which is why I'm putting in all the work now.
Come April the vines will be taken over by professionals who will do all the work during the summer, harvest the crop and give us cash for it. It was just too late this year so thems the break, eh.
OK, time to grab the reciprocating saw and get some demo work done in the barn - it's just too hot outide to do any more weeding, that'll have to wait for later. It's amazing how quickly one gets used to spiders, bugs, creepy-crawlies and snakes and thank jeebus for that or life out here would be a nightmare! The black garter snakes are horrid, and the skins they shed are even worse.
Are you enjoying your summer yet? :-)
PS: new poll is UP, go vote!
/end of Flexing Biceps post/
Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave,
A fairy tale for the ladies - enjoy! :-)
Once upon a time, in a land far away, a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess happened upon a frog as she sat, contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.
The frog hopped into the princess lap and said:
"Elegant Lady, I was once a handsome prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper, young prince that I am, and then, my sweet, we can marry and setup housekeeping in yon castle with my mother, where you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children, and forever feel grateful and happy doing so."
That night, as the princess dined sumptuously on a repast of lightly sautéed frog legs seasoned in a white wine and shallot cream sauce, she smiled to herself: "I don't fucking THINK so!".
OK here are some first photos of "the girls" - hate to use the flash to take pics but the coop lighting wasn't optimal thanks to all the dark weather we've been having... I'll take some outside pics next week once the girls are free ranging :) For now they're still getting acclimatized so they have to stay indoors for a few more days.
Here are the "three matildas", aka Lacy, Lily and Blossom. They're totally awesome, much friendlier and easier to handle than the other girls! They should be close to 3 months old now.
How the arrangement was before I had to split them in two groups, because...
Miss Ginger here and her possy (the two black hens) decided they didn't like the little pipsqueak and started to attack her - they were close to killing the baby so I had to do something. Ginger is a Rhode Island Red and Cochin mix - should be a pretty good layer. She's the eldest and the biggest at over 3 months old.
Little pipsqueak aka Betty Boop, a Barred Plymouth Rock. Lovely hens when adult, she should also be a good layer (Silkies just look pretty, they don't lay so many eggs per week). Betty is close to one month old now, still a lot of growing to do before she can re-integrate the flock. She's in with the Silkies now since they leave her alone.
The Possy, aka Ginger, Pepper and Truffle (those two are a cross of Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rock - should also be excellent layers).
See the difference in size that a month in age makes? It's crazy! Betty will be gorgeous once her feathers grow in - right now she's gangly, LOL!
It will be great once the official coop is all repaired and the girls can be transferred there - they'll be able to go in and out as they please. Right now it's a period of adaptation, the setting isn't ideal (dirt floor so a LOT of dust) and there's the issue of little Betty, which should eventually pass. They're all still very human-shy, they don't know how to nest or perch and they don't know what snacks are. Hmmm. Maybe my chickens are retarded. LOL!
Not much time for blogging lately - hope you're all having a dryer summer than we are here in this boggy place!
Shitty summer that never was. Grrrr.
I injured my thumb weeding yesterday and got no sleep so I *may* be a bit ranty right now.
11:30am and just sipping my first coffee of the day, after getting up at 6am to drive hubby to the bus station, fixing the chicken coop to split the girls in two groups (the little one will NOT stay penned up by herself so I put the silkies in with her since they're the nice hens), taking care of the dogs and then attending this godawful 2-hour seminar on finding a job. You don't go, the gov'ment cuts you off. So I went.
Need a shower but will wait until the chores are done.
Just gonna get all stinky again anyways.
Speaking of stink: chickens smell. Well their poop does, and holy shit do they ever crap. I hope I get used to this and that they produce lots of super-duper eggs in a month or so cuz man, they're work.
Of course it's all new and their setup isn't ideal yet, it takes a week for them to get used to living in a new place and to not fear humans so we're all adjusting to each other right now.
Do you want to see pics of the girls?
/end of Quick! Back To Work post/
All the ancient histories, as one of our wits say,
We went to see the little guy yesterday - oh my, how he has grown since we first saw him! He's a good 14 lbs of sweet playfulness now - feels like a little brick when you pick him up :)
(excuse the crappy photo, the small digi-cam was on its last legs and had no focus)
The artist's world is limitless.
I may seem to complain a lot, but this blog is a place to vent, a snapshot of my life in bits and pieces... I should make an effort to balance it out more with some of the positive stuff going on - lord knows there's more of that than anything else!
For example, my farmer's tan is coming along nicely.
Bonus!
Today we knocked off quite a few projects, it felt great. Of course the land looks like shit after all the digging and spreading muck everywhere - it will take days of slowly putting it all back together and another month or so for the grass to grow back but hey, that's what renos do: makes things look bad before they get better.
Or something like that!
*deep breaths, it wasn't a bomb that hit, it just looks like it*
Vegas worked like a dog the past three days with the rented tractor, you can say we got our money's worth and then some.
The stables got a proper french drain on two sides and ledge spread on the other two for more drainage. The damn thing is built on clay, of all things, the century-old foundation is all cracked and the horse boxes got flooded every time it rained! Why nobody cared to fix the problem before, I will never know.
I also don't know how many tonnes of manure got shoveled away, but it was a mountain and it wasn't pretty. Ten horses crapping for a year will give you SUCH a gift, eh?
Vegas also put in a french drain in the back of the house to prevent water infiltrations in the spring. He ripped out an entire vineyard, dug holes to bury the crap and spent many hours transporting rocks and gravel and cement blocks from here to there.
We're so getting one of these machines some day! LOL
On my end, today I spent another two hours cleaning one row of grapevines (three down, seven to go) and cleaning out the secondary chicken coop. The former owners only used it as a shed but it's good enough to hold the chicks until the insulated coop & outside run are renovated, which should be by this weekend. You're supposed to leave new chicks inside their pen for the first few days anyways, so it works out great.
The two feet of ancient-chicken-manure-turned-powder are gone, the thick spider webs are gone, the windows are clean and have new night coverings, the hooks are in place for the feeders and the new bedding is down.
I go get the cluckers Tuesday - so exciting!
Tomorrow we're doing the unmentionable... going to "the city" - yeecchh. Vegas has to go work and I need a meat run for the kids, so I get to spend five hours fighting traffic, going from shop to shop to pick up heavy bags of carcass for the carnivores. Lovely!
The only fun part will be seeing Dante in the afternoon - he got his first shots last Wednesday and weighed in at 12 pounds at six weeks old. For sure he's changed a lot since we first saw him, I'll take pics if he behaves!
If all goes well he'll come home in two weeks.
!!My dog time flies!!
I'll try to upload some new pics soon, although I've not documented much this weekend. Too busy being outside, working the earth with my hands, building and creating, dreaming, loving, smiling and just grateful to be alive.
I feel blessed beyond belief.
PS: have you voted on the new poll yet?
/end of So This Is What Life Is All About post/
My father asserted that there was no better place to bring up a family than in a rural environment.... There's something about getting up at 5 a.m., feeding the stock and chickens, and milking a couple of cows before breakfast that gives you a lifelong respect for the price of butter and eggs.
Am growing one and losing the other!
Sigh.
Been tossing and turning since 4am so finally got up out of impatience. Took some pics of the 5am rising sun, had some cereal and am now unsuccessfully trying to convince myself to try to get a bit more sleep.
My damn brain just won't shut off, so annoying!
It may have to do with the hours of physical work I put in yesterday... I mean it was non-stop from 8am to 8:30pm. Non. Stop.
It's great to be building muscles and to be slowly but surely able to do more with less repercussions, it's great that the projects are moving along but man oh man, it's getting annoying to have SO many open-ended things laying around, you know?
Can't get the chickens this weekend, the coop won't be done until mid-week. Vegas is too busy with his job, the contractor hasn't been able to give us more than one or two hours a day the past two weeks (thankfully next week he's almost all ours! TTFC!) and wow, there is just too much to do and I can't maneuver the big machinery so it has to wait for the mens.
Status update: no deck in sight, no dog run either. No horse shelter.
The big dog run is half grated of the vines and rock residue, that will hopefully get finished today as we have the Kubota until tomorrow night (at $200 a day, you want to get your money's worth!).
The contractor is supposed to finish tiling the basement today, then it needs to be grouted so hopefully tomorrow I can have my washer and dryer back. Then we need to get the ceiling & walls done. Lordy.
The chicken coop work has been started but it's a bigger job than planned, dunno when Vegas will have the time. He has to dig a trench by the side of the stables today for drainage, and another one by the side of the house in back. Insert drainage tube, cover with the clean cracked rock and then dirt. Biiiig job.
One load of ledge has been spread in the back of the stables, after the broken cement slabs and ginormous pile of horse crap were removed. Looks much better now, but I have to order another load of ledge this morning - one wasn't nearly enough as the sludge went that deep.
Soooo gross to inherit other people's shit. Literally.
In essence, we have all the wood, the rocks, the machinery, the tools, etc - just need the manpower and the hours (and weather that cooperates!).
Rare commodity!
Oh and I won't mention the pile of other side-projects that need to be done, like weeding over a thousand vine plants gone wild... at least the other flower beds look decent now. Mother of god, what a job.
Vegas looked deflated last night.
"I'm just wondering when we get to have a break and enjoy this place."
Well... We did take on a lot of projects straight after moving in! However, I admit that between knowing that things take longer and cost more than expected and actually living it, the reality can be a bit daunting.
No idea when I'll be able to start my business, either - I'm sooo not there yet. But it needs to be soon cuz we're broke, I mean really broke.
And the puppy arrives in less than three weeks.
Um.
I think I should go back to bed now and try to get a bit of sleep, LOL!
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
/end of I Can't Keep Up But I Love It post/
There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud
My favorite marketing company, Matchstick.ca, has once again asked me to be part of one of their campaigns - this one for Maybelline (I love their stuff) so how could I say no?
Maybelline is launching the Pulse Perfection Mascara in Canada and what better way to promote than by word of mouth by users, for users :)
I mean, how cool can a mascara get: the applicator is bright yellow! It has a battery! And the whole thing vibrates! LOL
I've not yet had the pleasure to try it because the box only got to me a week before moving and in the chaos, the Mascara Party had to be delayed... Still need to unwrap my pretty package and invite seven lucky ladies to do the same so we try out some vibes on our lashes and take fun photos - any volunteers?
Oh, and Matchstick is looking for feedback from anyone who may have seen my posting about Maybelline's new Pulse Perfection mascara (meaning, if you're reading this entry...). If you click here and complete the short n'sassy survey, you will be helping them by donating $2.00 to the Redwood Women’s Shelter - so please donate a minute of your time for a good cause!
If the misery of the poor be caused
Take the super-excited dogs out for an hour's walk through the horse paddocks gone wild. Yell at one to keep close and play tug-of-war with the other on the leash.
Realize why the horses don't venture "out back" so much.
Get rubber boots almost sucked off by mud.
Keep walking to try to find the mysterious walking trail through the forest. Get pants and shirt wet by 5' high reeds, get slapped in the face a few times by fir-tree branches.
Swear a lot.
Yell some more at the dogs.
Give up after an hour and trudge home, since trails are overgrown by weeds and mud and only good for ATV's and horses.
De-muck the dogs with garden hose (yey! luxury!) and let them dry on the grass for another hour while ripping out mega-weeds from one of the huge backyard flower beds. Realize there are more weeds than actual plants.
Also realize how out of shape a city girl can be. Ow, ow, ow.
Rake the crap into a few piles, leave for later.
Wipe sweat off brow, go inside for coffee and advil.
What's your secret?
/end of A Day In The Life post/
You don't have to signal a social conscience by looking like a frump.
He he. Of course the chickens are for the eggs only, there is NO way anybody is eating any of my pets! Now I have to get crackin' on how to raise those chicks (no pun intended).
Yep, they come home Sunday! And the coop has to be ready by then - aaaaaa!
There is apparently a shortage of egg hens this year, it's very difficult to find any - called three breeders and it's the same story: all sold out, people have scaled back production because of xyz, bla bla. Finally found some little ones for sale about an hour away, they're six weeks old so will only start laying in September but it's now or never.
So I chose now :-D
Wonder what it'll be like to drive home with four boxes of peepers, LOL! Two per box, I don't want to stress them out too much. Getting four white silkies and four black mixes (half barred plymouth rock and rhode island red) - what an adventure, eh?
I just hope I don't mess anything up.
*nervous*
Today was for banking and running errands (is six stores enough for ya? gaah), then gardening in the rain, hoovering and taking care of the doggies.
The furkids and I saw our first big deer scamper across the road on our evening walk, it was gorgeous and the dogs now have a new mission: find deer, kill deer. Some things never change.
Made burgers for dinner but the patties were nasty. Don't buy premade frozen crap. Cuz, it's crap. I'm 39 and still learning.
Lots of noises coming from downstairs... the contractor is here, Vegas is helping with the tiles. They have to lift a toilet and move a washer and dryer to finish the flooring.Most Some days I'm glad I'm a woman!
I forgot to mention that my mom stayed over last weekend and we had a ball gardening! Ever since I can remember, I had dreamed of spending some time with her finger-deep in rich earth, weeding and planting and just soaking up her skills. It was magical and I can't wait to do it again some day! Maybe next visit she can teach me to sew... I mean I can make curtains but that's about it. Durr.
OK done blabbing, I need to unpack a box or two.
Still haven't found most of our dishes. :-o
/end of I'm A Happy Camper Full Of Bad Burger post/
I mean, all I talk about is renovating, gardening and how tired & happy I am. Boring, eh?
No dramah! No rants!
Well besides wanting one, just ONE of the many started projects to be completed...
The wood for the horse shelter and the deck has been sitting on our lawn the past few days, getting soggy... nothing done. The stable innards have been taken down a bit, but not much. Tiling in the basement is underway, but not done. Then there's the ceiling & walls to get done. And boxes to unpack. Mountains of laundry and ironing.
*cackles like a mad witch*
I'm addicted to late-afternoon shandies now.
This afternoon Vegas and I sat on our front porch steps, sipping a cold one and eating peanutes from the shell, ya know, regular country bumpkin stuff. It was lovely.
I keep getting sunburns despite lathering on the spf.
Stupid pale skin.
Budgeting is a pain in the arse, the mailman brought us the dreaded envelopes today (school tax due, municipal taxes due, the "welcome tax" due, oh fuck off will ya!). House poor but Life rich. It works out.
Tomorrow I need to go order my chickens so they can come home next month. We need to fix up the chicken coop a bit, get bedding & food and we're good to go - been weeding like a mad woman the past couple of days so the chicks can settle right in - yey!
My brain is fried right now, no idea what I'm typing so I'll prolly regret this tomorrow.
I'm sorry!
/end of Whotzit? post/
