New addition

No we aren't in our new addition yet but we have a new addition to our family. Misty came into our lives on December 26th at the vets. She was a lost abandoned puppy looking for a home. Mom told them "If you don't find a home for her call me" Guess what? We got the phone call on Dec. 30th and now have a bouncing puppy in our house!

Could you resist those eyes?

Winter

I think that winter has arrived. There is ice covering the pond, we made an ice mound from the fountain that was keeping oxygen in the water for the fish. That is turned off and the fish are in Gods hands, as if they were any where else. Winter and cold are here and I still have a bunch of things on my to-do list. I did find out what happens when you have a garden hose rolled up on a dispenser, and you get caught in a cold snap. When you unroll it to make sure the water is out of the hose. When you are about 75 feet away from the dispenser and the hose becomes full of frozen water you start making sausages out of the hose, about 12" long and it breaks 12" long and it breaks... Looks like a new section of hose is in the works!

End of fall

It looks like fall is about over. Leaves are falling wind is picking up and it is turning colder. The fields around us have been harvested, and the bugs relocated. We shut down the pond with just one pump putting O2 into the water and the floating ice hole maker to keep ammonia down in the pond water over winter. We have covered the pond with the net to help keep leaves out of it. Mowed the lawn for the last time(I hope). We just have a few more final jobs to do in the yard and it is ready for winter and the snows. I have a few more woodworking projects to work on in the house as well as working on it.

The Pond

The pond project is continuing. We are working on landscaping the east side of the pond. hope to get it completed this week.

Why are my hands making yellow soap?

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes..They just keep coming! Everything else has given up the ghost but we still have tomatoes! We are eating tomatoes at every meal, "have some tomatoes on your toast"!! I love tomatoes but would like to have some nice fresh vine ripened tomatoes in January!! Tomatoes out of your garden are plump, full of juices, red, but not firm. the tomatoes you get at the grosser are picked while still green and hard, when ripened they remain firm and turn red but are missing the juice of a homegrown one. Oh well you get what you can, my Great grandfather never has a "fresh" tomato in January, or for that matter a fresh head of lettuce. Progress It always cost something!

THE WALL

The wall around mountain lake is built! Some of the backfill is done, we just have the hardest part, the part from the mountain lake to the pond, to backfill with dirt and cover with mulch. My leg is getting better but it still is weak in the knee and will let me know when it doesn't like what I am doing. I sure am looking forward to moving into the new addition. it is so cool in there! The house is cooler also. So far we haven't turned on the AC after we installed the new insulation.

Zucchini & cabbage

Well it is late summer and time for zucchini relish to be made. that means dicing up 15 cups of zucchini and many cups of onions, green peppers. A little bit of work but well worth it. Don (our neighbor) gave us a huge head of cabbage (12" across) so we dug into grandma's recipe box for slaw recipes and came up with 2 we are going to try. We will give you a report as to the winners or losers. The wall is on hold for a little while. I have to get my knee in shape to run a shovel. So I have spent my time working on a step stool for Mommy so she can wash zac's hands in the laundry tub with out holding him up. I just have to finish sanding, stain, and varnish it. I can't seem to sell anything I make, so I will just fill our house with my things.

THE WALL

Look out. Regan asked for the Berlin wall to come down, but we are putting one up. A small one around one of the water features in our pond. look for pictures in the near future.

The Pond

Our pond sure is a tranquil place to sit and think. The fish that Mom was so worried [Photo]about this spring have multiplied from 9 to about 75! We have had babies and babies and babies!!! I wonder if there are any good recipes for goldfish??? Just kidding. God has blessed us!!! Just to sit and watch the fish, frogs, dragonfly's, bees, flowers and all of Gods creation is very relaxing. Like a Good neighbor God is there. He holds us in His hands. The way the world is going that is a good place to be. Does anyone want some gold fish, if so I know where to get them. C enjoys the pond a lot and likes to spent time feeding and watching the fish. I think that she has run out of names for all of them.

I've fallen and I can't get up!

As we put in 54 bags of blown in insulation above the old house last Sat,I bent my left knee backwards. So now I am limping around the house. Mom and I feel that the insulation will make a big difference in the HVAC bills. We have already noticed it is much cooler during the heat of the day. Or is it just that the weather is cooler? It sure was better when I could find my mind!! My neighbor needed some help determining the stud spacing in a bolt circle. That had me trying to find my mind again. I think that i took trig. in high school back a few years. But then I could be dreaming. Oh well, I came up with an answer for him. I hope that he doesn't use it....
I am trying this kind of blog, maybe my kids will read it. They sure don't read my other one...