Winter Wonderland

So after weeks and weeks of spring like weather... it started to snow... and its still snowing.  Here are the latest of the kids and homestead adventures: 

 Headed to town??  guess not...  lol 

 These are hazelnuts that usually stand taller than the house... as you can see they started to break... Heather shook most of the snow off, but we still lost about half of them with the next go around of snow...

 And who better to build forts with than my lil Randa...  she stayed out there all day, going through two sets of snow suits and gloves.  but the forts were built and snowballs were thrown. 

Russ built the bird feeding station.  And if you build it, they will come.  This was this morning... I am not the bird person, but I know there are several kinds of birds that come.  The finches were thick this morning... it was cold, and the snow covered everything... so they fought over the finch feeders.  Too much fun...

Beautiful aren't they?  We cant wait to see the hummingbirds!  Happy homesteading!!! 

Making progress

 There's my lil sunshine.... She takes more pictures than I do...and they are always more fun... :)  Dont know what I would do without my Miranda....

 After two months in a row of a $500.00 a month power bill, the skirting went up.  Russ also got busy to build a bird feeding station outside the living room window... he has wanted to do that ever since we moved in.  Now like everything else... we wait for warmer weather and it will be painted! 

 Just the skirting on the other side... and our mudhole in front of the steps... tha little deck is about to get rebuilt too... and made larger. 

 This is a before shot of what will become Miranda and Lola's play area.  The fence will come down and the area cleaned up... we will bring in sand and gravel to put around the play house...

 The front end is getting better, back by the shop is still a mess... but it will be easier to clean that out once the old owner comes and gets their stuff.  March cannot come too soon for me!  :):)

 The beginning of a friendship path... or is it going to be the yellow brick road... the stack of bricks dug out from around the property there to the left is four bricks deep. 

 This became a flower bed... It was all the dirt dumped from old pots sitting around the garden... so I have planted some Iris... and a few daffodil.  I am looking through my seeds to see what else I should tuck under the walnut tree... lol

 Yesterday we finished the yellow brick road.  Well mostly... We need to get more sand (and replace the sand from Don and Cheryl's sandbox!!)  I have to get the paint and wait for warmer weather to dry things out some more... but at least we aren't walking in mud. 

 Norman and Shelia came over and Norman helped get the garden area plowed up.  Man is it looking great! 

 

 Dont you just want to go start planting things????  Its killing me to not play in the dirt yet!  lol 

 The fence is down and the junk hauled off.  the lil metal building is stripped and ready to be turned into a sitting area.  More paint needed.  We are getting close to planting the grass in the bare areas...

 These are before pictures of what will be Miranda and Lola's playhouse.  It was the chicken coop that was here.  Its only about 8x12... but we will turn it into a magical little house of playthings for the little girls. 

 Really?  Rhis is my playhouse?  Its kinda.. well gross in here!    lol  Power washers and Kilz paint will go a long ways... and some curtains and a throw rug... :)  It will be great! 

And our other faithful helper.  Starting to look his age... but never to old to chew on an old piece of wood...

So this is our progress on the outside with all the mild weather... I hate to see fire season this summer, but it sure has helped in us getting a jump start on the outside. 

Happy  homesteading!!! 

Beginning to feel like Spring!

And I know we are due for more cold and snow, but until then we will continue to take advantage of the sunny days.  Today was a milestone.  The birds were moved from their little coop to the one we built.  It still needs paint, but we will wait til Spring to paint it.  And I can move onto fixing the rabbitry... and then paint them all at once.  So here are some updated pics... and I will get more tomorrow! 

We definitely got our exercise trying to get them all into a new home.  But I am SO happy they all have more room.  Once the seller gets their birds, they will have even more!  

 They are at the fence line to their old coop... and they all just kept trying to get back over the fence to it... lol 

 Wow that's alot of birds!  :):)   and they are so happy to have space!

 I guess the pictures are going in reverse... but here's my lil one... cute as a button! 

 My lil walker!  She is taking about five or six steps before going down... you can see the excitement on her face with every step... And yes mom.. the gun case is locked up tight!  :) 

 Little Russ' Room.  We still need to put in shelves and get his electronics better organized, but for the moment... its somewhat functional...

 Apple trees.  And my apple eater!  We have been pruning and pruning and pruning.  they hadnt been pruned in years... so they are looking pretty butchered at the moment... like I knew what I was doing right?  They should be healthier anyway!  Don said I did ok... so if Don says its ok... then it must be ok! 

 Now I have more branches to add to the burn piles! 

 When its too bad outside we come back in and work on the inside more... I finally have my closet "doors" up.  lol I need to get the little girls closet "doors" up too.  Still unpacking and finding things we forget we had.  I think we will be doing that for a while!  lol 

 The countertop is done!  Yeah!  No more corner pocket and plywood!  :):):)  Woody came over and finished the corner so we have counterspace. A small curtain to cover the cookie sheets and tie the corner together... and then the hood over the stove and I think the kitchen is about done. I think... 

 Today finishing the coop.  Lola likes the corral... she can see us work and play with her toys... And I am able to get a whole lot more accomplished! 

 This is the next area we will begin to clean up.  The green building is the old coop.  So everything on the other side of the fence line is what will need to be worked on...We have a lot of "stuff" to clear out.. ground to level... and a coop to sanitize and paint and decorate to make into a play house for the little girls.  It will take weeks... between putting more manure into the garden and planting early starts.  But by Summer we will have a lovely lil playhouse for two little girls... Miranda says she wants to paint it red.  We will wait and see... 

 I know it looks like mud, but we have been hauling out manure... and we finally found ground!   lol  Russ put in the big gate so we can drive in if we need to, but we have the small one to just go in and check for eggs and feed and water.  Boy we have alot of projects!!!  As you can see behind the big gate, we have even more manure to haul into the garden area...

 Done with the work and moving things out.  I will take pictures tomorrow of the birds in their new home!  It just got too dark tonight after we moved them all...

 Mom this picture is for you... Remember Burney Falls?  I cant keep her out of it.  Her middle name has to be mud... the pool is for the birds (ducks mainly) to play in... and gets refilled daily... but she just HAD to check it all out and see how much mud she could get on her pants!  lol  She was our helper in catching chickens... she would catch three to my every one!  Bring them over one in each hand to be placed in their new house... my lil country bumpkin! 

 Rebel says,"  Its my job to just lay here and supervise!"  And so he does.  The Fed Ex guy came yesterday and he "woofed"... and then looked over at Russ making sure he noticed that he was still doing his job letting us know someone was here... only doing it by laying down on the job!  lol  He's a good ol boy... Love our Rebel!  Miranda had taken the camera at this point... and so as not to disappoint I included one picture of many she took!  Of toys, of pictures hanging on her wall... her face, half her face, her eye, and this one below!  We should all have a picture of... 

Our feet!  :):):)  Happy Happy.. joy joy... sweet stinky feet! 

We had ten kits born today... and more due tomorrow... Its time to get the rabbits to breeding and raised up.  I need the manure for the garden... and its time!  I will begin cleaning it up this week as well... so I will get pics of new baby rabbits tomorrow as well... :) 

Happy homesteading!