Break it up. Move along. Nothing happening here, folks.

At least not yet.

In case you missed my last post, (from all the way back in 2010) explaining where "blahwg!" went, I thought I'd pop in to remind you that this blog has been moved to another URL. To the right of this post, you will find links to my current blogs. "A Life On--and Off--the Farm" is where you'll find all the stuff you used to find here. "Becoming an Author...my journey" is my writer's blog. Lately, I've mostly posted book reviews, but I've been trying to motivate myself to pick up the old WIPs, dust them off, and get back at it.

Of course, the old blahwg! posts are still here, but I haven't posted anything new since 2010--until now.

I went through all the hassle of combining two blogs and using the URL I owned (with my own name) rather than this blogger URL. But I'm a woman, and you know what they say about women: It's our prerogative to change our minds.

So who knows what you'll find her in the future!

Construction Zone

Well, not here, but HERE...  on my essay's blog.  It will soon be my farm blog.  Yep, I'm moving!  I've been working on tabs over there.  It's not complete yet, but I'm ready to make the jump.


I've thought about it for a long time... combining these two blogs.  (Some of you know I have a third blog, my writer's blog, becoming an author, my journey.  It will stay separate.)  It would be much simpler to bring my essay's blog over here, but I own that URL, so blahwg! will be packing up.

From now on, my posts on chicken eggs and snow will be found there.  It's still hosted by blogger, so if you follow it, it will show up on your dashboard.  I do hope you follow me over there.  I don't want to lose any of you!  I enjoy your feedback.

I know lots of you have more than one blog, and honestly, it's hard for me to keep up with them all!  I hope by combining these two that it will be simpler for you, too.

Let me know what you think...  Are you with me?

One Week Ago

I could finally see my front walk again.

   We don't clean snow from it.  Everyone uses the side door.

I

The big drift on the front porch was quickly shrinking.

We could even see the bottom of the chairs!

It's gone now... every bit of it.  The last few days, I've been running around town in a T-shirt and sandals.  The grass in the new pasture is looking like a green carpet.  Where the grass is thin, the mud has become a problem.  The horses are getting antsy to run, but the ground is too wet.

As much as I love spring and fall, I miss the snow.  I hate the thought of summer being so close.  In my perfect world, the temperature never gets above sixty, unless I want to swim.  And it doesn't get dark until I get tired.  But this world is pretty good...

I was THERE!

I'm having a bit of a problem in Blogville...  many of my comments are being eaten.

I've been running around catching up with many of you the last few days.  I like to leave comments at least once in a while so you know I'm reading your posts, but it's giving me grief!  Blogger keeps logging me out and asking me to chose a profile.  Then my comment vanishes into cyberspace!

I went back to a few today, and sure enough, the comments are gone.  I haven't changed any settings, so I don't know what was causing it. It seems to be working now, but I don't have time to go back to all of you and leave a note.  Just know that I was there.

Ride Along One More Time...

Mom wanted to go to WalMart tonight...  I told her that if I could get out of the driveway, I'd take her.  All this melting has made for some icy slush.  Boy do I miss my Tahoe 4x4!



Coming home, even more had melted, but it was starting to refreeze...



Don't worry...  I didn't crash.  The video just blinked.  I made it safely to the house.

More Snow

The view from the living room...

How about a cookout?

 

Check out the way the ice formed on this fence rope...

Never too deep for Sadie!

 

And we had more after this!

Right now my car is stuck about 300 feet from the garage!  It's in a dip, so... uphill on ice both ways!  

Tomorrow I'll lug some of the horses loose salt down there.  Wish me luck...

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?

Little Bear doesn't like sleeping in the barn with her brother, two sons and a daughter.  She's more of a loner.  So when the weather is bad, like say over a foot of snow, she stays in the garage.  Yeah, right...

She was pretty comfy until little Miss I-Can't-Hold-Still-For-More-Than-Three-Seconds laid down beside her!  Oh well... it is Sadie's bed.

Take a Drive with Me... Part II

This was shot tonight.  Notice the big piles of snow on each side?  Hubby was busy today getting the driveway open for traffic!

After we parked the truck in the driveway, we started unloading groceries.  The truck began to slide down the driveway!  Hope it's still there in the morning...

Inside the Farmhouse

Since the weather is cold and snowy, I've been spending most of the time inside working on various projects.  I drew up plans for a new TV table that I want for the living room...

 

I've wanted to do this for awhile, and since I'm moving the furniture around to shampoo all the carpets, I figured now was the time.  I'll post a picture of it when it's done.

I love making things, big or small.  I think I've mentioned before that I drew up the blueprints for this house.  There are a couple of things I would change, but overall we're satisfied with it.

I recently retaught myself how to knit and crochet.  I didn't know if these old arthritic hands could do it, but it turns out that it's very therapeutic for them!  My hands are more limber and less painful than before!  I barely knew how to knit and crochet years ago, so in the past few weeks, I've advanced beyond where I was then.  Just like my cooking, I rarely follow directions for anything... so don't ask for patterns.  I like to make it up as I go along.

I started with scarves.  Easy.  Then I moved on to hats, learning as I go.  The mistakes are my special touch.  After many requests, I am posting these pics of my yarn projects:

This is the first hat I ever made!

I didn't get a picture of the scarf, but it has matching stripes.  My step-daughter is a Steelers fan.  (We love her anyway.  LOL)  She wanted a scarf in their colors.  I knitted the scarf while Brady was being born!  This head is a little smaller than a woman's head.

 

This a a ruffled set I made for myself.  It's the one I was wearing in the 'self-portrait while driving' shot.  The hat and scarf are rib-knitted, while the ruffled edge is crocheted.  The scarf is extra long for triple-wrapping!

This is actually purple and yellow.  Lexi asked for this set.  She described the braid & tassel thingy.  I found out before I gave it to her that the style is a short one on each side, so I redid it.

 

I love this one!  It's not an actual hood... just a scarf with a wide shaped area for your head.  I crocheted this one out of suede yarn.  It was on sale, so this cost $1.98! I can see the grands 'scarfing' this one up.  LOL

                                                                                           I have these two work jackets that I wanted to match.  I found this yarn that goes with both the green and the blue!  I made this one snug around the edge to keep my ears warm around the barn!
 

My two youngest grandgirls.

Melody's hat is made with double-yarn in the top for extra warmth.  I just crocheted the pink and blue together.  Grace is wearing a bell-shaped cap.  The pompoms looked much better before the girls got hold of them!

Grace requested a matching scarf.  I just finished it.

 

My bf has a gold wool coat.  I made her this double-yarn reversible hat.  It has a rolled hem for cute, and, flipping it inside-out, it has a head-hugging edge that pulls down below the ears for windy weather.

Even Mr J requested a scarf!  I made him a heavy-duty camouflage scarf for cutting wood.  He stays toasty warm now!

The left-over yarn became pillows for the living room.

Take a Drive with Me...

It's a little bumpy because Mr J's driving too fast.  (Shh.... don't tell him I said that!)  But here's a look coming down our driveway before the big snows hit! 

Birthday Snow

I always want a white birthday, though rarely get one.  Seems this time of year the snow only lingers around for a day or so, but not this time!  Although the sun had some melting power today, there's still plenty around (over a foot) for my birthday tomorrow!

Here's what the view from my bedroom deck looked like before the last storm...

 

We've got around fourteen inches now, and the weatherman just said we'll get another 6 inches between tomorrow night and Tuesday morning!

Actually there was another thing I wanted for my birthday...  a ticket for the theater.  If you follow my essay's blog, you know that my bf and I love to go to the theater.  She got us tickets to a great broadway show.  So the day of the show rolls around, and... yep!  More snow!  We wondered if they would cancel the show, since a large concert had even been canceled.  Even the malls were closing.  But you know what they say...  "The show must go on!"

I'm the designated driver whenever we go anywhere.  She doesn't like to drive on nice days.  I don't mind the snow, so off I went.

And they complain about teens texting while they drive...  Here I am taking pictures!  But, I wasn't looking at the screen.  I just held it and shot, hoping to get some good ones.  And I only picked it up where the roads were clear and there was no traffic.

 

The roads were terrific!  I guess everyone thought they'd be a mess because there was hardly anyone out that day!  It was like driving through my personal winter wonderland!  It sure put a smile on my face...

OK, don't laugh at my goofy sunglasses.  They do the job.  You should see the heavy-duty pair!

 

ramp to I-75 south

 

Middletown's main route!

We made it to the show with time to spare.  Turns out Cincinnati didn't have very much snow.  Can you guess what show we saw?

The actors took up a collection for Haiti.

Meanwhile, back on the farm...

I love the way the snow clunge to the fence!

 

Look how much snow is hanging on the rope in the background.

 

This is a view of our neighbors farmhouse from our driveway out by the road.

 

This bike path borders our property. 

That's our woods on the left.

The snow had molded to the gate and was now falling off.

 

Coming down the drive by the front pasture.

Over the hill on our driveway.

The trees border the creek.

The house is in the background.

On the right, behind the trees, is the goat house.

Ice Fog on the Farm

Most of these shots are from the 2nd week of January.  We had lots of heavy fog for several days.  It was a beautiful site to behold!  It wasn't as shimmery as ice on the branches, but it wasn't as damaging either.  The frozen fog left very artistic detail covering everything   ...even the deck boards.

 

Click on this close-up...
 

Doesn't the smoke from the wood burner make it look even colder?

 

  

  

  

  

 

Sweet Baby James was right...

"the birches seem dreamlike on account o' that frostin'... "

  

But don't worry...  I stayed toasty warm while enjoying this view from the edge of my bed:

Record Breaker

Yep, you're reading it right... 

Eight and one-eighth inches around this bad boy!

We can't sell these because they don't fit in the cartons.

Snow Day with Horses

This picture makes me happy...

That's Buddy's rump with the white tail, and Nekoda is the spotted one in the background.  But see, there in the middle, sharing Buddy's hay?  Yep, Maggie Mae.  Normally, we have to give Maggie her hay far away from the other two or they run her off.  It's just horse hierarchy.  Besides, she gets her alfalfa in pelleted form now, so any hay she eats is a bonus.  It still makes me happy to see my herd bonding tighter.

This is Mr J leading Maggie to the side pasture...

I've already thrown out their hay or they'd be following me to the gate.  The red building is their run-in shelter.  Buddy and Nekoda stay in it when the weather dictates.  Maggie is stalled at night and in inclement weather.

This is me...

...under the wool hat with ear-flaps and the insulated pants.  Gotta pass those hugs around!

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!

I just love showing how safe my horses are.  When the hay isn't there, I can back Nekoda around the field by the tail!

Organic accessories?

Staying warm in my horse-hair scarf!

Maggie Mae

I have to tip-toe to peek over her!

The horses love running in the snow...

Nekoda loves running anytime, but seeing the snow fly up is extra fun!