denying you're in denial is not denial........

Wellll Helloooooo! Quite the hiatis from the blogusphere (not sure any of the spelling is acurate and to tired to care).You would think a year would provide much catching up but really not so much and like the day time soaps, I am certian I can pick right up with today and everything will blend as if we never missed an episode!!
I have to start out with saying "How great is my man?!" Well, pretty great really. He is one of the handiest people I have ever met, tries his hardest to cater to my whims and quirks and does quite well at it.
My latest is stall cleaning. I would love to not stall our horses and most of the time I think the horses would perfer to not be stalled. However, we live on a hill and it seems the wind is always blowing here. Lovely in the summer, not so much in the winter. There is not one place that the wind does not blow up/down/over/under/around and into. If there is an opening there will be snow. Because of this, we stall our horses at least at night most nights between December and March. This means stall cleaning. One of my quirks is that when it comes to cleaning I can't seem to stop at "good enough" I am all or nothing and since it had to be done, spent hours everynight in the cold cold barn. Poor Dan would have 3 stalls done to my one (but mine was cleaner!;)) By the end of last winter my love for horses was ebbing away....thank god for summer. This winter I have opted for "nothing" and tasked Dan with barn duty to which he has graciously taken on. It took a lot for me to get over the guilt. After all, he never signed on for them. It has worked out well though....he also got tired of the duty and created something to help out! So much less work in half the time and a job I couldn't have done better myself!! It may not be pretty to those of you reading but it is the most beautiful contraption I have ever known! He has assured me it is but a prototype but nothing will take it's place in my heart.

This lovely piece of machinery (if items constructed of wood count as machinery) left me plenty of time to enjoy the other aspects of pet ownership. It was a good day!

Luvin from Taz!

I absolutely love my new hat!!

Emma burned off some pent up energy....not all of it though- never all of it.

Fozzy did some "hunting"

and then came for some luvin. :)

Pretty Lady

 

I have discovered a very cool way to upload pics directly from Picasa to my blog and am playing around to see how they turn out.

Big Man on Campus

 

Another reason I love snow days is because you don't have to feel guilty about not doing things that should but don't have to be done outside, thus leaving more time to play...for example on the computer! Which is exactly what I'm doing. HA!

SNOWDAY!!!!!.......

Seriously though,here we go again! But really, aren't I too old to be enjoying a good ole fashion snow day?! Absolutely not! Of course I now have a slightly different take on it. I'm not bundeling up to go enjoy it from the outside,no, no, no. I am deliriously happy with being "trapped" in the house knowing that everyone is fed, warm,and dry, all tucked in for the day and night and maybe another day. Although, I am longing for a cozy blanket, a cup of hot cocoa and a copy of the movie Snow Day with Chris Elliot's fantastic version of Snowplow Man!!!(which I don't have)



Yes, for whatever reason, the turkeys have come home after being gone all summer and I quite enjoyed them being gone but what do you do. Anyone up for a turkey dinner for Christmas? ;)

Overdue update.....

Perhaps knowing that I included a specific timestamp in my heading will ensure I update this before the holiday following....

As I've been reminded frequently in the past month and a half, I need to get out here and let you know that we did indeed get the roof finished. It took only 4 weekends and looks quite nice! Very clean and new. I wish the inside of the attic did. And isn't it funny how one new item amongst several old ones makes the old ones look even worse than the did before? I am now trying to decide what color we should reside eventually. Not that white is bad, it just seems lacking. I'm thinking a nice gray/green.

Of course the pink Tyvek really adds a little sumpn sumpn doesn't it?! :)

This weekend was not a good one. I had to say goodbye to a very special and dear girl that has spent the last 12 years being my very best friend, sticking with me through thick & thin and giving unconditional love and sassing every day. It is far from the first time and I ask myself, why do I continue to set myself up for the inevitable heart break. I guess it means the love and happiness is worth the heartache. She had a long (although it never seems long enough) and very good life and I am comforted knowing I was able to give her that. I will miss her very much.

MissPgirl. 1997-2009

I really have no other updates at this time. I am looking forward to my youngest getting his drivers license. It seems most parents dread that time, full of worry and anxiety but I can't wait! I have put more miles on my car in the last year than the previous 4 I owned it! One more month and I will have more time at home than I will know what to do with!! WAHOO!!!
They had a wonderful football season this year losing only 2 games and since track is the only other sport he goes out for, we will have some time to relax.
#69-Trevor J. puttin the smackdown on some poor guy!

Smite Me Oh Mighty Smiter!!

Finally enough money to purchase the materials to put the new steel roof on the 140 year old house. A large crew of excellent help and a beautiful weekend. We (everyone not involved in roofing) had a wonderful Saturday. The kids had a good time again. Give them a stick, a big chunk of rope and an atv and watch them go! How creative they can be!




It took all of Saturday to get the 4 layers of asphalt and original layer of wood shakes off the entire house. They say hind sights 20/20. Perhaps we should have done this in sections i.e. part off, part on, part off, etc. and perhaps we should have taken everything out of the attic to keep it clean. Who'd have thought when everything was off you'd be able to look completely through both sides and see blue sky?!


But we didn't. Go for the gusto right?! Rip it all off! After all, putting the big sheets of steel back on should be a piece of cake right?



That was Saturday.....Sunday was a slightly different outlook. I kept a wary eye on the wasps, with visions of them taking up new residence inside our now easily accessable house or possibly the slightly larger winged creatures of the night.


Sunday morning, all was good-except the dirt that fell into the portion of the attic where all my extra's are stored.


Sunday afternoon it was all to obvious that only a small portion of the roof would be completed before days end. Oh well, glass half full, I have a really good vacuum cleaner to suck up 140 years of dust, dirt and grime and Tarps were at the ready.

Monday morning, while the internet guy was reinstalling the dish dismounted from the now scantilly tarp clad roof, I thought I would begin my vacuuming.
Then it started to rain...I was thinking how nice to hear on the tarps, soothing, like camping but as it came down harder, I realized it was now raining inside! I was no where near done cleaning all the collective crap and now was watching as water poured down from the heavens, through the tarps, soaking boxes, turning the dust, dirt and grime to mud and muck and it was coming in hard!! Panic stricken, I scrambled for buckets to catch the water when I very quickly discovered they were no where near big enough to catch the incoming flow! So, mud and sweat from head to toe, in the midst of anger and dispare, tears and swearing, I managed to shove everything over enough, dumped stored clothing from rubber maid tubs into garbage bags, (more laundry to do later) placed the tubs under the leaks (leak is such an understatement) took an extra anti-anxiety pill, shut the door and went downstairs. That was Monday, it's now Thursday and I've not been back up.

Well, after re-tarping the 3rd night in a row, I think it's holding. More rain forecasted for the weekend. Bring it on.

More from the "Big Top" later......

Continued....

I've decided to break my post up seeing how this is my 3rd attempt at posting. Living beyond the reach of high speed, and even though I sacrified satallite T.V. for the expense of having satallite internet vs dial up, connection can still be quite slow and I've found that too slow might as well be none. But, I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Partridge Cochin Hen.



Embracing his inner lion! Aren't zebras supposed to have stripes?!