Everyone wants to be Oprah?

According to the current poll, being Oprah is better than being President of the United States - that sure says a lot about today's society, LOL!

Three days left to vote, people - c'mon, show me some love!

Today's funny: Children's Dental Assistant Buddy Fail

see more Fail Blog

Who comes up with these things!

Looks like another morning of heavy rain, hope it clears up so that I can get some more yard work done. I love the cool breeze, no complaints there, but I need to get those dogs out and they don't like getting wet! Can't blame 'em.

The hens seems to be faring very well this morning - yey! One of the silkies has appointed herself Flock Queen and psycho Screaming Betty keeps scaring herself into a corner but otherwise, life is sans souci.

Can't wait to get eggs, though - we must go through almost two dozen a week here.

If any friends and/or family are reading this, I apologize for the lack of phone & email updates lately - I have no excuse except not seeing the hours fly by, somehow there is *always* something to do and I turn around and it's time for bed.

It took me less than two minutes to pass out last night.

That never, ever happens :-o

All right, time to head to City Hall to pay off that infamous "welcome tax" all Canadians are subject to every time they buy a house. It's close to five grand and it's going to hurt.

*cries*

Happy Friday, everyone!

/end of Taxes Are Shit post/

Green-o-therapy

I have had such a fabulous day!

Dante slept through the night and it's me who woke him up at 6:30am for a wee, he would have slept for another hour LOL! I guess this bodes well for tomorrow. Nine weeks old and already doing very good on the housebreaking, yey!

The morning started out hot and muggy but oh! The cool winds came, obliterating the humidity and taking the scorch out of the bright sun a bit so the day ended up being gorgeous.

I soaked it all up like a sponge - about 9 hours of gardening and hanging out in the sunshine, how about that for a summer day?

This is like the "adult summer vacation" I never had!

OK so my arms and pecs are sore as hell and my neck is starting to stiffen up like a boy in heat but bah! Who gives a flying banana - I had so much fun PLUS we made big progress on tidying up the land, it's lovely to look outside and go "wow, that looks awesome!"

Most of the day was spent weeding gardens and trimming trees: cutting and sawing branches off our evergreens then hauling the crap bit by bit to the back ditch. Now instead of being surrounded by masses of thick weedy trees we can actually see through the "forest" - feels like we've gained a whole new space! The lawn also got cut and tidied up, ahhhh it feels wonderful.

The best part though?

Dante helping mommy while Dakotah watched and Maika sulked inside, LOL!

I cannot believe how freaking STRONG that puppy is - he had an absolute ball hauling every branch to the pile, no matter how big or how heavy it was. He got covered in sap and poked by fir needles, he ran and tumbled and wrestled and got buried in piles of green but nothing stopped the little engine from eagerly anticipating the next branch that would fall: all this for almost two hours in the summer sun.

I'm also amazed at how quickly his coordination is coming along, he's much less clumsy than he was just four days ago.

He also has an iron stomach and a healthy appetite, he amuses himself for hours with a few toys, he's not afraid of any loud noise (thunder, vacuum, construction noises, lawnmowers, etc) and he loves to cuddle and give kisses - soooo sweet.

Yeah, we loves him despite the rough start that first night :-)

It'll be great when the akitas finally accept him into their pack but I know this can take a while, we're not forcing the issue and will let things be.

Now for the hens, on the other hand... "Tonight is the night, baby"!

Now that it's dusk, I'm heading out to the temp coop to transfer the silkies and baby Betty to the Ninja coop and hope that they all finally can get along as of tomorrow, when they wake up. Forecast is for a few lovely summer days in a row and I want all of them to enjoy the outside run.

Yep, country dramahs are a lot less exciting than city dramahs, eh?

*grin*

Maybe I can make you jealous with my dinner of moist carrot cake topped with fresh, sweet local blueberries? With a cold glass of milk? Yes? Yes!

/end of Fuck I'm Happy! post/

Pass the popcorn!

Why should people go out and pay money to see bad films
when they can stay home and see bad television for nothing?
~Samuel Goldwyn

Getting mugged by summer

There's no doubt about it - this summer is a crock. It's either raining, threatening to rain, thunderstorming, too hot, too muggy or too buggy to be outside - the yard work is getting out of control and we can't do anything about it! GAAAH!

Please, summer, give us a lovely normal sunny day?

Just one! And I'll shut up!

(yeah right)

It's the annual family corn-boil party this Sunday and I can't wait - for some strange reason I've had transportation mishaps almost every single time and haven't been able to make it for years and years - last year my dad was soooo pissed, yikes! But not this year, oh no - it's 20 minutes away and we're there, come hell or high water (I shouldn't say that, what with the storms we've been getting all summer...). We have to bring Dante so it'll be a great socialization day for him.

Then my dad and step-mom come sleep over at our place :-o

I've never, ever had my dad sleep over before so it'll be super cool - all I needed to convince him was a house and a guest bedroom with its own little bathroom, ha ha!

See, summer? You have to cough up a good weekend now!

OK time for a bowl of vanilla frozen yoghurt with maple syrup and big, sweet, juicy, freshly-picked blueberries from the farm up the road, thanks to our contractor's wife - yeah, we lucked out in more ways than one with this guy :)

/end of Good Night, Folks! post/

Ode to little joys

• A puppy that is adapting to our life with lightening speed
• Hens that are ridiculously happy with a handful of grass and clover
• Summer weather with character and enough rain to never have to water the gardens
• The perfect morning coffee, everytime
• Crickets and frogs that lull you to sleep at night under a starry sky
• Fudsicles, ice cream and rocket pops
• All those old dog toys getting a new life thanks to puppy
• The smell of laundry that dried in the fresh country air
• Finding everything you need at the store in one trip
  

... and... A husband with a sense of humor, to wit:

Notepad I had bought and put on the fridge:

The card hubby came home with a week later:

Mysterious photos I found on my camera when I downloaded my pics:

I married an alien.

Hope you're all having a great Tuesday, it's hot and it's sunny and it's time for sunburn despite SPF 50! Woo! At least the lemonade is cold and refreshing... Almost time to bake that carrot cake, guess what we're having for dinner! Served with ice cream, it's just perfect.

New poll is up, go votesies!

/end of Life Is Silly Ain't It Awesome! post/

A video is worth a thousand photos?

Well, let's just hope so, LOL!

Here is puppy Dante following his big bro around the kitchen:


Being cute on a sunny afternoon:


And his first day on raw has gone super well, he loves it and OMG his crap has cut down by 3/4! Way to GO!


His second night was MUCH better than his first and let's hope tonight keeps that trend... We are soooo tired, ugh. Puppies are like newborn babies with the crying and the pooping, LOL! But he is a fast learner and is starting to like his crate even if he still puts up the obligatory protest before settling down for a nap - little bugger ;-)

The akitas are slowly warming up to him but they still don't know what to make of "the strange puppy" - he tries to play with them but they just stare at him like "dude - chill!" - LOL!

I don't want to turn this blog into a dog diary so that'll be it for now, tomorrow will be other ramblings so I hope to see your mugs then.

The singing country crickets and froggies bid you goodnight!

(best lullaby ever)

/end of Pitter Patter Puppy Feetsies post/

Grin at it

Life is not having been told that the man has just waxed the floor.
~Ogden Nash

Dante is home :)

And oh, what a day it was! LOL

The car ride went superbly well as he was nestled on daddy's lap, the dog introductions went well (sniff, sniff, lick kiss ignore), he had food and playtime and then settled in his crate for a nap after 30 minutes of loud ruckus.

"Hey!", we thought, "that was easy! good puppy!"

Little did we know...

The evening tantrum lasted about two hours. At one point I had to go outside for a walk, the howling was doing my head in. At least the stars were out so it was a nice view...

Did I ever mention that earplugs are a godsend? No? Well, they are: from snoring dogs to sirens to traffic and screaming puppies, it all gets blocked out allowing for a good night's sleep. Unfortunately for Vegas, he can't to earplugs so let's just say he didn't get any much sleep... I found him in the guest room at 7am, passed out in his bathrobe looking like he had gotten hit by a mack truck.

"Rough night?"

"...groan..."

Puppy got taken out at 3am and then at some point after that he managed to crap in his crate and smear it all over, then proceed to howl and scream from 5am onwards. We got up at 7 to take him out for a pee and clean everything up - he then ate a huge breakfast and is now, of course, passed out in his crate sleeping.

But look how cute he is:

We have since figured out that this is the result of him being mama's boy all his life. Being the last born, he was coddled and carried and held a lot and now it's all he wants. He's not too steady on his feet, he can barely climb stairs and wants to be carried all the time.

Thankfully, the problem is easier to fix when you know what it is ;-)

He will need to learn that no, he's not being abandoned and yes, he will be treated like a dog now and not a human baby. He will build his self-confidence and autonomy and will learn to be a good pack member. Hugs and cuddles and kisses will be limited to what is normal in order to help him become the awesome dog we know he can be - let's just hope we have enough patience and earplugs to make it until then!

More news and pics to come later...

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

/end of Oh Lord Grant Us Some Peace And Quiet post/

Last day as a unit of four

Dante comes home tomorrow :-o

We're fetching the little guy in the afternoon, it'll be yet another great adventure and addition to our growing family (I guess the hens count too, eh? LOL). We hope the akitas will be nice to him and that he won't be too traumatized by the day's events - everything he's ever known will suddenly change and we'll have to deal with the crying and whatnot.

Or he might be a super good boy and everything will run smoothly!

We'll see.

And yes, I will post pictures!

Today saw a lot of good things happen:

-the horse paddock rewiring is half done
-the deck and attached dog run is almost done
-we're getting 10 acres of overgrown paddocks brush-cut, about a third is done and the rest should be done tomorrow. It looks like a giant golf course now :-D
-the french drain behind the house has been completed, cleaned and turfed
-one of the dog guest rooms is completely painted & decorated
-we found a painter to come do our fugly hallways (3 floors of 'em), our giant bedroom and the foyer, we'll get an estimate this weekend. Just need to pick out colors now... help?
-I hung a load of laundry outside to dry for the first time on my new clothesline-umbrella thingie, everything smells gorgeous now and it went super fast. I shall do it again!
-we hung curtains to frame the patio doors in our dining area, it warms up the place immensely - I am super pleased!

Those are just the big lines... don't want to bore you with the details too much, eh?

*pokes baby biceps, which hurt but are getting pretty developed for stick arms*

Anybody remember Loverboy? That Canadian band that got big in the early 80's for songs like "Turn Me Loose" and "Working For The Weekend"? No? OK I might be too old... In any case, they're playing here tonight to close a 4-day street music affair this little town puts on every summer.

Oh, the racket that wafts all the way to our windows... Imagine the worst heavy metal music possible, warble it on speakers and add the sound of a thousand cats on fire, screaming for their lives.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Time for a hot shower, I'm absolutely wrecked again from shoveling, raking, weeding, ratcheting, hammering, hoovering, painting... but ah. I love it.

I never imagined that life could be so awesome!!

/end of Good Night, World! post/

I be quiet lately because...

...I've been enjoying "real" life a bit too much, hence the virtual world has taken a back-burner for now. Less posts, less funnies, less technoblabber.

But can ya blame me!

I haven't been outside in the green air this much since the early nineties, when I was bumming around in Europe and wasn't chained to an office desk. I swear this move has taken a decade off my age - I feel fabulous!

Now that I've gotten the weeding under control (and hired someone to finish cleaning & pruning those godforsaken vines), there is finally time to work on my business. The website should be up next week with the disclaimer that we only open in September but I hope to at least get some calls before then. I'll post the link here when it's ready!

Word of mouth is the best publicity :-)

Yesterday was spent on painting one of the dog guest rooms and I'm quite happy with it - just need to add some wall stencils & decoration, then stage it for the website. So exciting to finally see some action! Wooo!

I hope my dogs will be good models. He he.

Speaking of dogs, look at these puppies:

see more Fail Blog
This had me in stitches... Thanks to Vegas for finding such gems!

OK, I gotta get a move-on... the hens need fresh air and the dogs need their potty-break n'breakfast. I think my coffee's finally made it to my brain. Kinda sorta. Yaaaawwwwn.

/end of Let's Rock This Thursday! post/

What do you think?

Admiration and familiarity are strangers.
~George Sand

Ginger and the ninjas

Today, three of the girls got a taste of "the wild outdoors" - aka the outside coop. It will be awesome once all the hens can co-exist peacefully and hang out together, I don't like seeing them in seperate living quarters. Hurry and grow up, Betty Boop! Then you and the silkies can all get some fresh air!

So this morning I opened up the outside pen door but four hours later, Ginger and the two ninjas still hadn't ventured outside so I grabbed two of them (no mean feat!) and popped them outside.

All the while thinking my hens might be retarded :-o

It was pretty funny to see them rooted to one spot for about 15 minutes, not sure what the hell was going on, clucking and muttering!

Then the last ninja finally made her way out (chickens hate being left alone) and the group explored their new daytime quarters, had a ball scratching the earth and digging dirt baths, hunting for bugs and whatnot.

They liked this old box on the ground, for some reason:

Funny how they always move as one, with Ginger in the middle more often than not. Must be a survival instinct thing? I'll have to look it up.

Nugget of the day: It's unbelievable the amount of flies that gather around chicken shit :-o

At about 6pm I went over to shoo them inside for the night but lo and behold! They had already found their way inside the bunker and were all settled in - yey! Thems got chicken smarts! :-D

Now if they can only lay me some nice eggs in a month or so...

/end of Cluck Cluck post/

I am surrounded

Spiders. Gazillions of spiders - you can't get away from them here.

Yesterday morning I was about to slip my foot into my sports shoe when a fat spider ran out - it got squished and left a brown juice mark on my white sock. Soooo gross. All our windows are etched with webs - you take them down and the next morning they're up again.

I just went outside to check on the girls (the hens) and got smacked in the face in four places by fresh webs.

Arachnophobia, anyone?!

Another scorcher of a day is in the works, I need to take the dogs out for a long walk while it's still bearable - we'll get the banking done and that'll be that! Vegas is in the city today so that means no car pour moi, boohoo.

Wow, I'm so out of gossip that my posts have dwindled down to boring shit. I'm always thinking of cool little stories to relate to you guys but then the moment passes, I forget all about it and the next time I'm in the vincinity of my laptop I'm going "what was that thing again?" - that's no way to blog, is it.

I thought I'd be so pious out here - I'd get in shape in no time, I'd eat tons of fresh fruit and veggies and get all healthy, I'd sleep like a rock, yadi yada.

But no.

I ache all over and dragging my heavy carcass from one place to another is hard work due to crappy light sleep - you know when you wake up at 2am and for hours on end you're conscious of not sleeping? Yeah, that. For no reason whatsoever.

Then the fruit rots in the bowl on the counter and ends up in composting, the veggies end up with the hens and I end up dining on sausages and Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.

Nitrates, people! Sugar! Trans fats!

Oh, the shame.

I would give my right arm for someone to cook for me, to feed me healthy colourful meals, to go grocery shopping and then do the dishes. Just one meal would be lovely.

Bah. Not gonna happen anytime soon unless I get a lesbeen lover.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

/end of Get Your SPF Two Thousand On! post/

No comment!

Aye caramba! It's HOT out!

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

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave,
and grow old wanting to get back to.
~John Ed Pearce

The princess and the frog

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!".

The newest additions to our fambly

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.

Ever seen a Silkie before? They're the COOLEST chickens!

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!

OK break's over, time to continue with the laundry and the floor washing - got two layers of grout off the new basement tiles, two more washings to go.

Pain in the ass, why didn't anyone warn me about this!

*looks at dry shriveled hands*

Hope you all have a fantabulous Friday, do try to enjoy some time off for me! ha ha!

/end of Those Eggs Better Be Good post/

On the fly

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/

On civilization

All the ancient histories, as one of our wits say,
are just fables that have been agreed upon.
~Voltaire, Jeannot et Colin

Dante at 6.5 weeks :)

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)

He walks like a sumo wrestler and is sooo cute.... He's the stockiest of the puppies and his coat looks to have a tiny bit of brindle in it (thanks to his cane corso heritage?) - it's a bit longer and softer than those of his siblings, too - very strange. His eyes are also rounder and more expressive than those of the other pups - all this makes the little runt unique and adorable!

Dante comes home on July 25th - can't wait!

I'm off to collect the chicks this afternoon, am super excited! Just need to go get a heating lamp this morning, what with the quasi-freezing nights I'm afraid they would catch cold and get ill. WTF is this October weather, anyways?

*shakes fist at non-existant summer*

And yes I chose names for all six of the hens, will introduce them tomorrow after I get pictures taken. It's supposed to be sunny (key word: supposed) so let's see what we get!

All right, gotta get a move-on... Have a fabulous Tuesday, everyone!

/end of Super Duper Excited! post/

The cat's paintbrush

The artist's world is limitless.
It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away.
It is always on his doorstep.
~Paul Strand

Wrung out, never felt better :)

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/

On rural life

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.
~Bill Vaughan

Strength and patience

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/

On blooming

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~Anaïs Nin

Maybelline's new Pulse Perfection mascara

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?

Look at the pretty packages! Each one has a full mascara, coupons, we have a party booklet and all kinds of tralala.

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!

I'll get my "sexy lashes" pics up by next week so you can tell me if they look nice or not. Am curious about the experiment!

Well that's it for today... for the blogging, I mean. In real life, Vegas and I have a crapload of stuff to do but at least things are moving forwards. The chicken coop will hopefully be all fixed up by tonight, so I can get it ready this weekend for the baby chicks!

One project at a time, one day at a time, one hour at a time.

One life to live.

Yesterday the blue cloud-studded skies were so beautiful, I drank it in and I almost cried from sheer happiness. But I laughed instead :)

Have a great Friday, everyone!

/end of Weeding Does A Body Good post/

Humanity

If the misery of the poor be caused
not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.
~Charles Darwin

How to burn calories by not even trying

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/

Feminine wiles

You don't have to signal a social conscience by looking like a frump.
Lace knickers won't hasten the holocaust,
you can ban the bomb in a feather boa just as well as without,
and a mild interest in the length of hemlines doesn't necessarily disqualify you
from reading Das Kapital and agreeing with every word.
~Elizabeth Bibesco

OMG it's for real!

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/

Am I getting dull?

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/

All five in fifth gear

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.

~Hanna Rion

Another pictorial :)

Snapped a few pics yesterday in between demo tasks, shopping and bouts of rain... It's nice to finally see some progress! Vegas has been building sore muscles this week, I tell you - now he's gone and sprained his ankle, the poor babe. Hope he heals quickly cuz there is sooo much to be done...

*head spins*

Anyways. We're having a ball, adapting to a different rhythm and just sucking in all up like a sponge: the beautiful green, the fresh air, the lovely people, the impromptu visitors, the horses... finally owning our own tiny piece of the world feels like the greatest blessing of all.

After having each other, that is!

Ooops not supposed to be a mooshy post so here we go with the eye candy!

OK let's start with the barn (aka stables). The outside shelter was torn down in two days, below is day two of the demo:

When all you have is a wheelbarrow, carrying all that junk to the dumpster eats up a lot of time and energy but thankfully Vegas was up to the task - what a warrior!

Finally it was all done today. Yay! Next step is to order rocks to cover all the clay and help drain the land around the barn. Stupid ex-owners let ten horses hang around there all the time so the place became a giant toilet. No more!

View of the house from one of the horse paddocks, under a grey sky...

I love going in the field to hang out with the horses, they're super calm and friendly. I look forward to having my own some day... And see? We're not in the boonies, LOL!

My handiwork for the day. Took down as much as I could of the old dog run but with my stick arms, it was slow going... let's just say I sweated and swore and it was FUN!

See? I made that pile! Then Vegas took it away *grin*

Needed some strong man-arms for the posts and such.

I have to relocate a bunch of perrinials that are currently where the new dog run will be - my mom's going to help me with that tomorrow, weather permitting.

There is always a happy doggy in the window, no matter which side of the house you are on: you are being watched with a grin! They loooove it out here... I'm sure they don't miss the city one bit.

Funny thing: the fur on Dakotah's hip grew back the past few days. Like, totally just whoooshed right in - it's a beautiful sight after seeing him sport bald patches there for almost a year. Happiness does wonderful things, doesn't it?

/end of I Am In Love With Life post/

Drive-by posting

We're both so shattered, it's not even funny. But the adrenaline and love of it all keeps us going - at some point the demo work will be finished and rebuilding will begin. Or so I hope!

Yesterday we mostly stayed inside to unpack and organize, Vegas finished the grout in the small basement room and then our evening was ruined by our dogs mauling the neighbor's cat to death. It wasn't a very good day, all around.

Today we enjoyed a morning walk in the woods with the monsters dogs, then blew a wad of money shopping for tools and house stuff.

Again.

Needless to say, I'm getting pretty nervous on that front...

Still haven't ordered any of the supplies needed to build the deck, the new horse shelter or the dog park. Well I tried today, but the place the contractor told me to call didn't carry the kind of wood he told me to order, and he's not answering his phone to approve the changes so I can't get anything done - gaaah!

*shakes fist at roadblocks*

At least I demo'ed most of the cheap ugly dog run that was in the back of the house, Vegas will finish the rest and then we'll have a new setup in place this month. Gonna need it, with the pupper that's arriving in three weeks! The ugly horse shelter off the side of the stables is completely gone now and the giant container needs to be trucked away tomorrow as it is full.

I feel wicked, LOL!

My mom's coming for a short visit tomorrow (just one sleep) so we're struggling to get as much done as possible until then - tonight is for more unpacking and tidying up, then tomorrow morning the place needs a major cleaning - there is soooo much dog hair and crap everywhere, it's like living in a field!

Oh, wait... we are! LOL

Sigh. I better get to it.

Can't wait to finally have a bit of time to catch up on your blogs! aaaaaaaaaaaaa!

/end of Time Need More Time post/

RIP sweet kitty :(

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping
for that which has been your delight.
~Kahlil Gibran

If a picture is worth a thousand words...

...then I hope you all enjoy this book :-D

This should give you an idea of what's been happening the past few days... I'm still too busy to get online much, just trying to keep up on Facebook and email and have quickly peeked at a couple of blogs but that's it... There is sooo much to do here, it's mind-boggling. But immensely fun and rewarding.

I don't remember ever being half this happy :-)

A zoom into the back view of our property, to get the horses in the mist... so lovely to see it roll in at night like the souls of a thousand dead sailors... or something like that, LOL! The mist is also sometimes there in the wee hours of the morning.

Our view on a sunny morning - I love this tree :)

Our living room the day we signed for the house, after we'd dropped off a carload of stuff. I can't believe it was once so clean and bare, LOL!

The day after the 17-hour move... Gaaah! Every room of the house was piled high with stuff, however the main floor got the brunt of the boxes and furniture as the movers were too exhausted to carry stuff upstairs at that point.

Just kill meh! LOL

Tuesday morning... starting to look a bit better. A bit.
Notice the über-tired doggy in the corner!

Ah yes, the battle of the delivery trucks last Saturday morning, 9:10am! The red container had arrived at 7am, but then the John Deer lawn tractor arrived and 30 seconds later, the truck with our washer and dryer showed up. Hilarious! And there was Vegas, not sure what was going through his head at that very moment...

View of the horrid rotted ant-infested deck - first thing to get demo'ed early Saturday morning.

Ah, much better now! The new cedar deck will be much lower to the ground so we can actually see the land instead of wood. Should be up in a week, weather permitting.

A short video of my little bro, who came over to help - he actually ended up tearing the deck up mostly by himself, as Vegas was stuck at the hardware store loading up the car (read: destroying the shocks) with 33 boxes of tile, cement and other impossibly heavy things, LOL! My bro is awesome :)

View of the side of the house, sans ugly deck. That all needs to be fixed and sealed, of course... Notice the green stain on the siding, where the propane tank used to be... and the doggy in the window. Awe.

Vegas applying his tiling skills with great fanfare! Our awesome contractor is a great teacher, we'd be lost without him. We really, really lucked out with this guy (thank you for the referral, Wayne!) - will take a pic of him building the new deck later!

Finally, the eyesore on the side of the stables is coming down. Half was torn off yesterday and Vegas is just heading out now to finish the job. It's harder than it looks.

But he seems to enjoy it despite the aches and pains that hit later, LOL! I too am helping as much as my fragile back allows... yesterday I sweated and burnt like I never have before carrying loads of rotted timber to the container. Woo!

This month we need to get the inside of the stable gutted and rebuilt... it will be gorgeous!

Two of our sweet boarders. I loves them. Someday I will have my own horse, hopefully sooner than later. Hopefully.

Home is where the heart is... and I've found my forever place.

/end of Visuals post/