Fabulous Fifty

It's my birthday today. I'm 50. Ugh.

This is my birthday present from my very best friend from high school. My -- Main Street dragging, screaming over boys, crying over boys, going barefoot to the movie (what were we thinking? It was HER idea!), horseback riding, yakking all night, cutting class to go shopping, lamenting our single status, going to a concert and staying 10 minutes, arriving late and leaving football games early, be there for each other no matter what -- gurl fren'.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Our pond is frozen all the way across.

It has been below freezing for over two days. Everything is frozen. It's horrible. I'm ready for summer.

Hello! What's This?

I announced a few months ago that the last of the goldfish was gone - probably eaten by the raccoon that hangs out around that water bucket. I have seen neither hide nor hair...nor scale of any goldfish since that day. I've even emptied the bucket, washed it out and refilled it. No kidding!

So, it's freezing here and the livestock's water buckets have frozen. So today I sent Tom out with a bucket of hot water to pour into the buckets so the animals could have a drink. He went out and poured the water for one bucket, went and dumped the ice (and little bit of water) out of the other, then came back to the house for more hot water. I went out with him and while he was pouring the water in, he looked over at the pile of ice and said, "Hey! There's a goldfish!" And it's tail was flapping feebly.

He quickly scooped it up and put it in the water. It was able to swim around, but barely could stay upright. So, if we didn't kill it from dumping it out on the ground to suffocate, we might have killed it from putting it in the hot water.

So, where was that little fish hiding all this time?

No, really...

...it's not a guinea pig; it's not a tribble. It's a dog.

Mochiko

And you thought yeeeew were the cewtest.

Meagan's new pomeranian puppy.

Chicken Protector?

Things have been slow around here. Cold, rain, and snow has prevented a lot of outdoor work..or, rather, the desire to do outdoor work. It's much nicer to cozy up by the fire than to bundle up and schlep around outside.

We're cautiously optimistic that Harry has finally learned that he mustn't kill the chickens. He hasn't been agressive towards them in a long time and we're consistently leaving him out there unsupervised with them. In fact, they seem to follow him around. Maybe they're taunting him, maybe they like his company, maybe they feel protected, or maybe they're just too stupid to remember that he was picking them off one by one. Even the big white rooster (we thought it was a hen until he started jumping on the hens in rooster fashion), who was mauled by Harry a few months ago, doesn't seem to remember the incident.

We were averaging about half a dozen eggs per day until it got really cold. Now we get 3-4 per day, which is still more than we need. I have six dozen eggs in the refrigerator at the moment and I give them away to anyone who visits us.

Sad Harry

Harry is a bit sad this week. We had him neutered so he has to be confined for the next five days and he has to wear this collar for ten days so he won't lick and chew his incision. I don't know what's worse, the confinement and boredom or the neck brace. He's almost nine months old and 86 pounds.

Venison

This is all that's left of the venison. I've never liked venison before, but this was good - tender, not gamey. The guys did a really good job. They grilled it just right. The rub (a Bobby Flay recipe) consisted of peppers, coffee, mustard, and some other stuff. They used mustard seed rather than ground mustard, and it was a bit heavy on the coffee, but it was OK anyway.

The Centerpiece

I don't usually decorate for any holiday or give any thought to such things as centerpieces, but this year I went all Martha Stewart and made an arrangement for one of my tables. I drove down the road and cut limbs off of trees, arranged them in a vase, and ... voila!

Man Cooks

Mark got a deer at his deer lease a few days ago, so it has been decided that venison will be on the menu tomorrow. Since we ladies don't know how to cook venison (that's our story and we're sticking to it), or, according to Mark, we're lazy...the men are cooking it.

Tom looked up Bobby Flay's venison recipe which consists of marinading it in vinegar for two hours, then making a rub, rubbing the meat and letting it marinade overnight. It has been entertaining.

Implementport

This is Tom's latest building project. His friend, Charlie, who among other things, is a welder and he welded it together. This is for parking tractor implements under to keep them out of the sun and weather.

So, Charlie told Tom about this guy that puts up and takes down billboard signs. Who knew that the billboard signs were actually huge plastic tarps? Well, they are. And this guy sells the tarps really cheap, like 10.00 for a 32' x 20' and 15.00 for the 40' ones. And Tom had this great idea to use them as "walls" for the shed. That way, they could be rolled up out of the way on any side so that the implements could be moved in and out more easily.

It's a grand idea in principle...not so much in execution. I had a picture in my head of how this was going to look. This picture in my head does not match up with reality. Instead, reality is a big eyesore that I don't like to look at and, in fact, am quite dismayed about.

Chicken Fun

Chickens love their dust baths.

Repairs Underway

New floor is being installed today. I had a bit of an altercation with the foreman. The guys that tore out the damaged floor damaged some of the texture/drywall around two of the windows. The foreman insisted that it wasn't their fault and that the water caused the damage. I know that he is wrong about that, but I decided that I wouldn't argue about it anymore. He called his boss and his boss said that if we threatened to hold back any money for the cost of repairs, to just pack up and leave. Of course, he had me in a bind. I couldn't tell them to leave because I want my floor finished.

Some day, I will learn to check and document every move that construction workers make.

And Then There Were None

All my goldfish are gone. I'm pretty sure a racoon got them. We've seen one hanging out down the driveway several times. I think he's been fishing in my water tanks. Hmmm, I want to get more fish this coming summer because they did get rid of the mosquito wrigglers, but it could get pretty expensive feeding the local 'coons.

Caterpillar or Cat Scat

Whoa. I thought one of the cats had pooped in the garage when I saw this. Upon further inspection, I discovered it's a dead caterpillar. The biggest caterpillar evah. I'd love to have seen the moth that this would have become.

Fish Update

I have one fish left. Four of them just disappeared. I'm thinking a bird or a racoon reached in there and got them. Two I found floating belly up. One is left vigorously swimming around in its tank. I cleaned the waterers yesterday and thought that might kill it, but it's still alive today. Poor thing is probably lonely.

Goldilock's Bed

Bad News

The living room floor is being torn up today. About half of the plywood subfloor is soaked and delaminated. You can see in the picture where the water has soaked through to on the plywood. This means that plywood has to be pulled up, too. Then we have to wait for the concrete underneath to dry out. If it's humid here, it could take weeks. That might mess with our Thanksgiving plans.

Water Damage

This is what the water did to our floor. Some of the boards are buckling up enough to push the baseboards off the wall. Demo is scheduled for Tuesday. Hopefully, the plywood underneath is OK. We'll just have to give it time to dry out, then install the new wood over it.

He Said, She Said

"Are both cats in the barn?"

"No, one is missing."

"Which one?"

"The black and white one."

Ummm.