What February Means Around Here

made some pine cone fire starters

heart pancakes for my sweethearts on V day

February Is:

A Big Birthday month for me: Dad, Mom, 

Littlest Brother, Biggest Son + more

Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, and in the case of this year

THE BIG THAW!!

Thank Heavens, I do not know how much longer I personally

could have continued inside this house!

I am an outdoorsy kinda gal, and the ice was not enough

of a draw to get me and keep me out there! 

chicken feets in the mud

the sun returned

This weekend dug out the "pond" aka black plastic oval shaped leaf catcher/frog headquarters/decorative thingy 

(left my previous homeowners)

My ohh my is back a aching.  

Lifted and moved 30+ stones, shoveled over a

wheelbarrow of decorative rocks. 

But it is looking good!!

my car mechanic bro adds welder to his talents

Him and his friend spent the majority of the day welding the boys go-cart back together.
Woo-Hoo will they be happy when they get home!

• Ordered new bee hives ~ arriving soon!
• Pre-ordered the taters for spring planting
• Reserved pavilion for Alyssa's Wedding in late August
• Planning the veggie garden and landscaping
• Started aerobic workout "stomp down the mole hills"

Hope you are having an exciting February too!!

~ assortment of our 13 new chicks ~

Iced In * In Illinois

WARNING: BLIZZARD CONDITIONS

Well, for some of us ~ this blizzard never actually transpired.

And I believe that is probably something to be grateful for.

What we did get was a nice layer of ice, covered with 2" of sleet, 

and then around 1" of snow on top (left to blow across this icy tundra).

Soooo. . . . . some of us are iced in!! 

My husband however, is not.  He couldn't handle being stuck here another day.

My husband left no tracks, he slowly slipped down the road 

and headed to work and took Josh with him.

I do not think I could safely pull my van out of the garage, 

make the sharp turn in our driveway on ice and travel the 1/2 mile 

on our lane that is a complete layer of ice.

And the problem is ~ that the weather shows no sign of a warm up.

Will I have to wait for spring to go anywhere??

Well at least it is pretty, we have plenty of firewood, and food.

Wherever you are I hope you are warm and your belly is full!

glass grass

 basking in the glow of their red heat lamp

coop 'cicles

  

 

chicken wire

 

whisker's whiskers

my driveway's sharp turn ~ this is the icy layer BEFORE 2" of  frozen sleet!

this morning the sun broke through

beautiful layers of frozen land and light

 

DO NOT STAND under this corner of the house!

frozen corn stalks

the pine tree has turned to glass

Just Some Happenings Going On Round Here

Fall has had us hopping. Some fun, some not so much.  

 Josh had 4 teeth pulled, making room for those braces this month.

School activities, 4H getting started, tearing out to start remodeling the basement

and some more goodies.  Check out the pictures, they tell a better story.

My Birthday Man ~ 11/11/62
Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

beautiful foggy fall morning

Meet ~ The Crowder's ~ Mom & Tom ~ Bailey & Missy
in front of their antique & gift shop before the big fall sale
sadly this picture was taken about 15 min before a truck ran over and killed Missy
they rescued her around 12 years ago ~ a tragic accident that has more hearts hurting from the loss of a beloved pet

My Great White Hunters
Deer Season 2010
they had fun ~ I missed them

My honey and his first deer ~
3 days after his 48th birthday

Fall Mornin'

this is only a snippet of the birds we have had flying over and hangin in the fields

gorgeous fall sunsets

My little/big bro Tyler loves to be a shooting
one gorgeous Saturday he came over and the guys played

shooting clay pigeons in the backyard

  Lau Nae Winery ~ Red Bud, IL
we almost got locked in here
they forgot to check, found us 10 minutes after closing
we went to two local wineries with Jeff's nephew and girlfriend
it was a nice relaxing afternoon

this winery has great martinis!
 . . . CHOCOLATE MARTINI . . . yummmy!

finished my quilt class, my quilt top is done,
now to find the time to hand quilt it

been sew ~ sew busy sewing
these bags to put in Maw's shop

Miss Alyssa expecting Miss Aubrey in January
she had a great baby shower this weekend ~
lots of goodies for her first little one and our 4th grandchild

the morning the guys left to go hunting, it was foggy on both sides of us ~ we are on just enough of a ridge that we were clear, it was very mystical

beautiful fall sunrises

Cap't Smith from the Titanic ~ aka Blake in his play at school
6th grade ~ Great Job!

Josh is his fall choir concert ~ 6th grade
Great Job!

Welcome to Our Coop

the ole coop builder himself

the coop is about 98% complete, better to see those

fall leaves and not snow.  after much love in labor by my honey, we are sooo close. since these pics were taken we have worked on the trim pieces that cover the spaces between the boards and now to get their roost built and get the horse trough set up for their nesting boxes.  they officially moved into their new digs on sunday evening.  it was so pretty that we almost stayed the night in their first, but our soft bed after working won out.

he built the walls with new 2x4's and then used
the old barn wood siding and old 2x's for the roof
and old tin to cover it ~ it is sturdy as an ox yet looks
like it has been here for decades ~ character

welcome to the berry good life farm chicken coop

old hardware we left on

working on some window trim

the backside

really did not make much of a dent on the ole barn wood pile

remember the old barn we tore down ~ it lives on
a lot of hard work ~~ but we absolutely love it
my husband is the sweetest
and i am the luckiest