We have a bathroom drain that actually drains now! E got all the pipes replaced and now we just need to figure out how to repair that huge hole in the floor! I can't wait to get everything that was in this room, back in there, so I can find the livingroom! I am planning to sort out some more of the 'stuff' and donate it, so I won't have to put so much back in there. I think I inherited some of the 'save everything' genes from my grandmother, but that makes for a lot of clutter and 'stuff' that we don't need to have in this tiny house. Makes keeping the house neat pretty difficult. So I am going to be
ruthless when it comes to keeping all this 'stuff'!!
We had a relaxing weekend. I slept a bit later than usual. We read books, sat in front of the computer awhile, worked on my quilt, did the laundry and some house cleaning. I tried a new recipe called Crockpot Enchiladas. I loved them, even though I think I would not cook them quite so long next time. E said they weren't too bad, but he doesn't like anything with a lot of tomatoey sauces. These were rich and saucy. Yum!
E surprised me by cleaning the horses' stalls and rebedding them! I always do the cleaning while he takes care of the chickens. When I came outside to clean stalls, they were already done!! He is such a sweetie!!
This little black kitty will follow me absolutely anywhere. He is a pest! But he purrs so loudly when I pick him up and he licks my nose, and just loves every second of his share of my time. The snow was a problem for him as he couldn't walk on top of it, he kept breaking through, but he didn't care if he could climb up my legs! OUCH!
Solomon got a 'boo boo' on his face. I don't know what happened. I suspect that Katie, who is standing next to him, probably made a mad face at him and he smacked his face on the hay feeder that is in their run-in shed. He used to be the Absolute Boss Man, but Katie and her daughter Maddie, have taken over and Katie runs him off from the gate, the water tank and just because she can! It is hard for me to believe that he will be 20 years old in May of this year! I helped him come into this world, and it just seems like yesterday! He is as healthy as can be, but has some arthritis in his right rear stifle that makes him have a bit of a hop when he is moving faster than a walk.
This is my sleeping garden. It is warm and cosy under its blanket of snow. I can hardly wait to get my hands in some warm garden soil! Some years the daffodils are coming up in mid January, but I think they are hiding this year!
My father in law gave me 4 grape vines that he dug up from his garden. He was tired of messing with them. I think they are about 4 or 5 years old. They are sitting in the garage in big buckets. I don't know if they will survive their winter storage or not. I hope so. I wish we had planted an apple tree or two when we first moved here twelve and half years ago. We would most likely be harvesting apples now. But...hindsight is wonderful isn't it!
Lets hope for an early spring!
I found something else peeking out of the cold, wet ground! My elephant garlic is about 4 inches high! Trying to grow right through the snow. That stuff must be pretty hardy!
Today when I got home from workat 3:50 PM, I got the bowl of bread dough from the fridge and pulled off a grapefruit sized ball of dough. I tucked the ragged ends underneath it and plopped it on a cornmeal dusted flat cookie sheet. I let it raise 1 hour, then baked it at 450 degrees for 30 minutes and we had fresh bread with our Chicken Noodle Soup that I made yesterday. It was just tooooo tasty! And sooooo easy! There is one little trick though. The first 10 to 15 minutes after you put it in the oven, you cover it with a metal bowl or an aluminum lasagna pan, to trap the steam. Then you remove it and let it bake. Yummo!
