Chess

I have never liked chess. Like golf, to me it seems like the most boring thing to do. And quite complicated. But my husband loves to play chess. (He also likes the game Hearts. Hmm.) He taught both our kids at a young age. And has taught our oldest grand daughter Chloe, when she seemed interested in it. She loves it too. And is pretty good at it.

So the other day, Kansas, the youngest grand, found the chess set in the cabinet. She brought it out and hubby helped her set it up. He explained about all the pieces and what they can do and how they can move. I don't think she gets it yet. Chess is a very quiet game. A game of concentration. A game where people really don't talk a lot. And do a lot of sitting and staring. NOT a game for a child like Kansas! That child cannot do any of those things for more than 30 seconds. Really. And when I told her that in some chess competitions sometimes it could take several hours for a person to make a move, I think she decided it was not the game for her either.

I did find out that the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. Ha! I always knew she was special.

Blue jean quilt. Done.

This is the blue jean quilt, held up by the husband. ( I was going to post the other picture of him smiling, but apparently, I can only post one at a time.) So it's plenty long enough for his 6 1/2 foot self. I finished it just in time Monday for him to take it with him when he left. And that night, can't remember where exactly he said he was, but it was 28 degrees. It kept him really warm.

I didn't sew through the pockets so the back looks a little wonky. But it looks pretty good. I just quilted from corner to corner one way then the opposite way.

Now on to other things. I need to make a rainbow scarf for my oldest grand daughter. We are supposed to be getting a little snow today. And some 25 MPH winds. So I hope we don't have any power outages because of fallen trees. So looks like a great day to work on something inside by the fire.

What are y'all working on during the cold wintry days and nights?

Water, water, everywhere.

This is the path to the goat barn, between the 2 trees. There are some boards under the water that they walk on to get to the milk room. All this water, that came from the creek to the right up above, is going through the yard straight to the sheep shed- hay island. Then it goes on into the South garden and down the driveway, then turns right and goes through the little orchard then down to the pear trees. Where it makes a little lake.

It is actually a little less water today. I did get to milk Sandy last night and feed some of the others in the milk room. They got to come out some this morning. But now it's sprinkling again. And we could possibly get some snow tomorrow? That's what I'm hearing now. I kind of hope it does so all this nasty mud will be covered up for a little bit.

I believe it's like this all the way up through Indiana. My niece lives up there and had water pretty close to her house. I had to go to town yesterday and could see all the lakes where there are no lakes. SO much water. But my mom says this will be so good for the gardens this summer. I told her I do not see how that works, as I still have to water my garden in the summer. Where's all this water then, huh? I don't know, but I guess somehow it does help.

I hope you all are dry and warm wherever you are out there.

Thinking about spring (and lots of plans)

Yes, it's STILL raining. Yes, it's STILL muddy. Yes, we have lakes and ponds and creeks and streams all over, STILL. I wasn't able to milk Sandy last night because there is NO way a goat will cross a creek for love nor grain. So she didn't get milked. It's times like these that makes me want to drag one of the stanchions out to the barn and make a little stall just for milking when it's pouring rain. One day.

So I have been thinking about my farm here. And what all I want to do this year. Way too many things and way too much money to do them. But the first thing I would like to do is make another greenhouse. We made one a few years back but didn't use strong enough plastic. We still have the PVC pipes. I'm going to look at some catalogs for a thicker mil greenhouse plastic and order some. I will save tons of money starting my own seeds. I spent SO much money on flats and flats of plants last year. And I can just start my own right here and maybe sell extras.

Plus, a greenhouse can be used as extra early growing space too. AND it can be used as a chick brooder and composting place. I have seen people use them for that purpose and it works great. The chicks are warm and they scratch up the soil and fertilize it too. I am planning on getting more Freedom Rangers in the spring.

And I am wanting to do a lot of rearranging in this house and the little house. And make some walkways that are more goat and sheep friendly. I hate that they have to stand in mud so much. They need some wooden platforms to get them up out of the mud.

I have also been thinking about fencing and pastures and rotating and parasite management. I do not want to lose any more sheep to those awful Barber Pole worms again. So I really need to make my 2 pastures into smaller yards and move the sheep every week so they'll be going around every 21 days.

Also need to make more garden space for the market gardens.

So many plans and so much to do. I just need money, the key ingredient to make it all happen. I hope to sell all my doeling kids as soon as possible. And most of my ewe lambs too. I only want about 10 ewes here. I really don't have the space for too many sheep. Or goats either. I have 8 does now plus the 2 bucks. I will probably sell the Lamancha buck and butcher the Boer buck.

I'm sure everyone is thinking about spring and have lots of plans too.

Blahs

It is nothing but WET outside. There is water everywhere out there. I feel so bad for my animals. The goats all have a dry barn and shelter. But the sheep only have an open shelter. It's big enough for them all and they are sheep with nice wool coats on. But the ground is SO wet and muddy. I need to make some wooden platforms for the goats and sheep to just stand on that's not in mud. I am taking old hay and throwing down on paths but it's still just WET.

I know I should not be complaining about all this wonderful water that we'll need this summer. But right now, it's not doing a bit of good. It's depressing to look out the windows and see lakes and ponds and streams where there is not supposed to be those things. I want to just go hibernate like the bears. They have the right idea.

It did get cold last night though. After a week of highs in the 60's and 70's here and no heat on, it's about 48 now. My hubby had to build a fire in the wood stove again. It took awhile to get it going, but he's a good fire building man. Now to get daughter to get some more wood in. She's good at that.

And I was going to try to get pictures of the finished quilt, but computer wants to go all wonky on me again. But it is finished and is on the way to my husband's truck with him. He just left. I told him that nice warm very heavy blue jean quilt might just save his life one day. if he's ever lost out in the middle of no where way up in Montana in a blizzard, stuck in his truck with no fuel for heat, that quilt will keep him warm. I so hope that never happens. Anyway, glad it's done and my poor fingers can take a break. I'll post pictures soon I hope.

So how is the weather in your neck of the woods this week so far? I so want summer right now.

Easy dinner

Well, it worked this time. This computer is so wonky. 

So this is our dinner the other night. Beef stroganof. I just took some beef stew meat and onions and garlic. Sauteed that with some mushrooms. Then added a can of cream of mushroom soup. Right before serving I add some sour cream. Put that over some egg noodles and there ya go. Dinner. 

My mom used to fix this all the time when I was younger. It's so good.

Horses in need of resuing ASAP

http://www.facebook.com/SunDewSavesHorses

I just saw this on a friend's Facebook page. A bunch of horses were bought by a kill buyer up in Pa. They have til this Sunday to be bought. There are steps you can take to get them to you. And they are really cheap too. Nice looking horses. If anyone needs a good horse, I hope you can rescue one of these. I just don't have room.