Northern Lights - NOT!!

So I have a standing order tradition with my oldest brother who happens to live in Alaska. I text to him: "Cold, Clear, Night....Ready...Set...Go" and he turns on the Northern Lights so we can see them. He lives in Alaska, he has control over those things, I'm pretty sure that in a conversation somewhere he mentioned that.

Last night, being Wednesday night, and taco night, I took my Dad to the bar (why, yes, I take him to the bar regularly, don't you take your dad to the bar?). Apon (upon? I really need to look that up someday...) coming out of said bar we both looked up to notice that the stars were very bright and twinkly, as stars have been known to be. So I issued the command..."Cold, Clear, Night....Ready...Set...Go!" to which he promptly (don't you love texting!) responds. "No, Can, Do. It's overcase up here so we've turned them out". Excuse me? So Not An Option! He knows better than to tell me "No", we're gonna have to have a 'scussion about that.

I took today off. Yay, right? Not so much. This requires planning, and I am a planning GENIUS!! Planning must be done, not only to secure a day off, but also to make the most of a day off. Rather than jump out of bed this morning excited to have a day off, I nudged. You know. Inch by inch, very unwillingly, crawled out of bed. Why? Why am I not excited that I have a day off? One reason, well, two reasons actually, one involving the inside temps this morning in the cabin, but the real reason:

Failure To Plan!

So rather than scurrying to start my day, the coffee was made, poured, and sipped while I made lists. This never fails to get me going. A list maker extrordinaire, (I have lists of all of my lists, just can't always remember where they are, or more importantly, to look at them) my reason for being quite often includes the making of lists, which always leads to more lists and adding to lists that already include sublists.

This morning, my list included cleaning up the kitchen and doing laundry. And paying bills, all stuff that I just love to do. I also included a bunch of fun things. Like taking the Bu-Dawgh for a walk. The sun is out (because the sky is clear, which is why the stars were twinkly last night), they seem to go together, unless they don't, in which case there would be precipitation of one form or another (usually white this time of the year), and since there isn't any, precipitation that is, it's a beautiful sunny day. I should go fishing, right? Screw the laundry!

Tomorrow? Dad and I have a pizza date! Maybe with wine, which is usually a good thing, actually the only thing better is a cold beer, or homebrew (ahem... Jeff...running low here.....)

In Which Ter Quits

At any given day I have quite a bit of stress going on. I work full time at a job I love. I work part time at another job I love. I run my farm, home and on the off chance I have a few minutes to myself, I like to breathe. Keeps me going.

But, I quit! (not breathing, because that would really mess up the rest of my day).

Hey, hubby gets to quit and go up North fishing and hunting for the weekend, why can't I quit too?

Let's identify some stressors that I'm resigning from

There's always money, yeah, I'm not doing money anymore.
Taking care of the parents. Well, that one I can't really resign from.
Taking care of the kids. Come on, seriously, they're full grown people (sometimes they don't act like it, but then either do I). The oldest is successfully out on her own. Once in awhile I'll help her at her store, gives me something to do when I'm not breathing. The 2nd is successfully out on her own also, married with kids and the whole deal. The 3rd, Blondie, is not married, however she is out, pretty much on her own. Still requires a bit of help now and then but pretty much....
4th, The Mouth, see above, and the 5th is in Iraq. Now there's some stress I'd love to get rid of.

Let's see, what else. Probably not enough hay to last until June, water pump shouldn't be freezing already which means something just may be amiss (doncha love that word? AMISS!!), it's supposed to rain/snow for the next 6 months which means my laundry is going to get seriously piled up, there's not enough room in the garage for my bike.....

I could go on and on but I won't. The main thing right now? Not enough time. I just "got" spinning. I mean, I've been spinning my own yarn for awhile now, but just last night I got it. It worked. The hands and feet and wheel all seemed to be in sync, and nice, even, consistent yarn was produced. This is a good thing. Something I've been working toward now for awhile. Now I have to find the time to produce more, because, of course, I have the perfect project to knit with this perfect yarn. So, yeah. If you could just send me a bit of time, I'd be really grateful!

But before I start to spin more of the perfect yarn to knit the perfect project, I have to finish the last 2 that are still in my basket waiting for me.

And there's the pumpkin that STILL hasn't gotten canned. Spinning and canning, sounds like the perfect Sunday to me!

Results of Taking a Day Off!

This is what I accomplished on my 2 days off (the pen, not the coop itself):

This pen cost me NOTHING!! It was all scrounged from stuff found around the farm.

I doubled and tripled up on the fencing, weaving it back and forth because I didn't want to cut it, in case if we ever put a larger pen in, I'll still have longer lengths of fencing.

The gate is an old pallet, with hinges that I found left over from another project.

The tarp is for cover from the rain and sun until I get the coop done.

The pen is 20x10. The only thing left to do is put a top on it (the birds keep flying out) and to finish burying the bottom of the fence along the back wall (to keep other critters out)

Then it will be done (after I clean up the "leftovers", and I can finish the coop (an anniversary present from hubby!). I'm excited, this is really the first time I've had an "official" area for my chickens and turkeys.
Along the front of the pen, I transplanted my chives seedlings, the area gets full sun and they should do well there. I also planted some lemon basil seeds.

The turkey feathers, along with all of the chicken feathers are a result of wing clipping to try to keep them in the pen, it didn't work, it will need a top.

I have to get the rototiller back in the garden. With all the rain, and trying to get this pen done before we leave for our vacation, the weeds have taken over. There's nothing yet to be harvested, but the weeds do need to be eliminated.

So, before we leave IN ONE WEEK (diving and family reunion in Mexico)!!!! I'll get the chicken coop done, the pen covered and the garden de-weeded.

When I get back it will need to be done all over again!

We currently have a house resident (one of our "kids") who is staying with us, she'll take care of the farm while we're gone. It's so nice to have kids that know how to run a farm, so we can get away once in awhile. There isn't any of our kids who couldn't keep the farm running, summer or winter, keep the house warm, start up the generator if we lose power, or basically just take care of stuff if we need them too, that's a big security thing! These kids definitely have survival skills! Which is a great comfort with what the economy is doing to us.

Now, to see how well The Mouth does at "the touching up of the roots" before we leave! They seem to be growing out and not looking quite so summery as they did before. I had hoped that the summer highlights would kick in by now, but not so much. Oh well, it will be another blonding episode!

Thinking now, with the chickens penned up I'm going to need to maybe find another barn cat or two, I'm thinking the snakes will start to show up. We'll see.

I'm so excited! My brother from Colorado will be here today. He'll be here until Wednesday. There is lots of garden, home improvement, critter enhancement... projects scheduled. But... the most important is the obligatory day long bike ride. Last fall we did this on a day that was gorgeous, he rode Hubby's bike and I, of course, rode mine. It was Mid-October, the leaves were in full color and flying all around, and it was around 80. Unseasonably warm for October, but the day was just perfect. We both still talk about that day, so this Holiday weekend we plan to redo it.
Maybe we'll ride over to the Big Lake for lunch.

No, the chickens and turkeys did not get put outside. They stink, they smell and they're flying and running and &$%^-ing all over the bathroom, but last night was knit night so, we do have our priorities. Besides, it's really something that's a two person job and hubby was out playing too. He likes to do the go kart thing and last night he and his buds were playing go karts. So, chix and turks are still inside. Tonight doesn't look good either, I'll probably be with my brother, and hubby will be go-karting again.

Look at this yarn!!! This is my latest score from Yarn Of The Month Club. It's the bamboo ribbon yarn that I hated but couldn't live without. It's soooo soft and when it knits up the drape is just perfect. I don't know what this yarn wants to be when it grows up, it hasn't told me yet, but someday it will make me a real nice something or other.

Update on the Blueberry Issue. I've filed a claim with paypal. I hate to do that, but it's been almost 3 weeks since I've sent my money or even heard from the guy. I'd still rather have the blueberries than my 30 bucks back, but we'll see. I really don't hold out much hope for either. The picture above is the spot hubby cleared for them, guess they'll be for the strawberries now. Next week, probably, we can start putting stuff outside, so I'll get those planted right away.

Our youngest called from Iraq yesterday, he's doing well, things are quiet for now where he is. I'm still pretty scared about the whole ordeal, but with the addition of N and her Monkey to our household, I've been even more distracted than I normally would be. And that's bad. In a good way.

Tomorrow night, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I'll be there! Go Wings!!