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! 

Our latest cowgirl?

Here are a few pictures of Lola... she is growing up too fast, like they all do, but it seems even faster than the others... maybe because I am older? 

Today was super cold and we needed to "run into town" for feed for the critters and well  we might as well get a few groceries for free... :)  Gotta love coupons!  :)  So we bundled her up in her dancin' duds and I couldn't resist in snapping off a few shots of her "dudded up"...

 And you were expecting the baby!  Hehehehe

 Yep... here I am... is the runway all for me??? 

 Striking a pose...

 Snacking on cereal bars... my newest favorite snack!

 Well besides the fake eggplant that goes with the play kitchen...

 Remember ET?  Can you find her?  She almost blends into the room of toys!  I keep trying to tell her the room isnt big enough for all her stuffed toys, but she wont part with them... so there is always just too too many stuffed animals piled everywhere... lol  I guess things could be worse...

Why Yes... I am standing on my own... <clapping>  yeah for me!  :):):)

I don't feel like separating all this into three posts... so here are a few of the chicken coop still going up.  If I wasnt such a pansy in the winter I would get out there and paint.  but the cold and my Fibro just arent very compatible... so I will finish it in the spring with paint.  Until then.... here is Russ fixing up the Poultry Palace?  Chicken Condo?  Chelle's Chicken Cottage?   I think a name is needed for their new home... anyone have any ideas?  Ducks, chickens, turkeys, guniea fowl... We could call it the Fowls Fort?  Yep I need help here!

A line of I think 16 nest boxes by the time he is done... all in a row and easily cleaned when need be... he is putting in ramps for the ducks so they dont have to struggle over the frame of the building to get in and out.  Doors on each end for better ventilation and the ability to pull a rig up to each end if need be to clean it out... I have big rocks to remove and the floor to level out...  He brought in dirt to fill it in so they wouldnt dig out too soon!  lol  Its a lot farther along now, but I left the camera out there for over a week... and couldnt find it!  Blonds I swear!  <big grin>  I looked in the house, the car, the truck, the kids rooms, the cat bed!  I did not think to retrace my steps out the chicken coop...

 The roost... I know overkill, but it will hold 70 birds more than comfortably... and still have room for the ducks where the wagon is...

More importantly is a life lesson in a nutshell....  Gasoline and fire are not a good combination for children of ANY age!  


I want every parent to bring their children to look...   Look at what a gasoline can with nothing but fumes can do to your skin... so imagine what a full can exploding could do!  I know they are blurry, but I couldnt seem to get the ice out of the camera from being in the cold coop all week!   All I keep thinking is why the school of hard knocks?  Why do we all from time to time choose to skip "school" and head to the "school of hard knocks?"   I am just thankful they are all still attached!

Need I say more...  His first finger is pretty much healed, it was more the tip than the top... I am very thankful they are still attached, and are healing.  This happened on the 2nd... so that makes it only 8 days old... and it STILL looks gross!  We are following Dr.'s instructions and bandaging and putting silver "stuff" on it daily... it is looking better, his middle finger you can see is WAY better... but the school of hard knocks?? 

So all you little pyro's out there... keep your fingers attached and skin in place...

And the adventures continue!

Boys will be boys...

They keep saying its a guy thing... I guess I just dont quite understand...lol  but the fascination of gasoline and matches go back as far as I can remember for boys.  And with Russ being a former firefighter... I think pyromania is in their blood... :) 

Sunday began in a hurry to get us all to our meeting and then home to make the  best of the daylight hours we have in the dead of winter.  I was trying very hard to make our room a bedroom and the boys headed out to "do chores".  Chores consist of taking burnables to the burn barrel and lighting them off so they arent piled inside for days... My son asked if he could try to start the burnpile of wet wood... and I told him he could.  (What was I thinking???)  I "assumed"  he would light his newpapers and cardboard boxes with his bbq lighter and the wet wood wouldnt do much so he would give up when all the burnables were gone.  (Again... what was I thinking???)

Well about half an hour later... he comes in side and very calmly says,"  Mom I blew my hand up."  I replied with a," What?"  "How?" and all he could tell me was... "But there wasn't a flame."...

Making sure all fingers were still attached I told him to hold it under cold water while I got BACK into clothes and out of my pajamas I had just changed into for the evening... and hollered at my oldest to get the two younger ones loaded and ready to go... Alex hopped in as well as we drove the 35 miles to the nearest urgent care with his hand wrapped in a wet towel...

The next time I change the bandage I will take pictures of his three fingers that got the brunt of the freak accident.  The gas can literally popped over the small flame he had created.  There wasnt any fluid really left in the can... but it expanded just enough to break the gas can at the seam and give his fingers second degree burns across the knuckles. And if you ask him WHY he had the gas can?  He will admit he ignored his fahter and I from the numerous times we have told him NO to the gas can! 

So here we are three days later.  He is realizing how painful it is and how long we will call him Russell scissor hands because of how I have to wrap each finger...

2011 has began for the Benson's... and if this is any indication of how the year will go... I better hang on to my hat!  It only took two days for the chaos to take over the year!  I hope other homesteads started off quieter...

First snow

Need we say more... no I didn't join them today... it was just too cold!  But its officially winter with snow on the ground and hot cocoa going in the kitchen!

 Let the forts be built! 

 Gloves?  What are those?   I'm tuff!  Don't worry about it! 

 Shhh... they cant see me...really they cant see me...

 Nanaanananaaana....   you cant get me I'm the oompaloompaman!  tehehe... 

 Yes... yes we need hot cocoa.. how am I suppose to win the snowball war without cocoa? 


Not a ton of snow, but beings they lived their whole lives on the coast without snow up until three years ago... they LOVE it!  :):):) 

The almost five inches we got hit so fast this morning, Russ had to come home from being on his way to work, it took 40 minutes to make it 20 miles and then there were accidents before he even hit the canyon that  he couldnt make it to work.  I left meeting early as did half the congregation... I slid all the way there in the truck and Don and Cheryl followed us home... no one was ready for snow... this evening with the lightning and thunder and wind... Little Russ watched a couple small trees fall at the back end of the property.  I guess I will have to take a look tomorrow... when its light and I am warm! 

Tomorrow I plan to breed rabbits.  I know only my old girls will take and do well, so I need to get the others ready for breeding season and get them used to breeding period!  So... here we go! 

Happy homesteading...

Curtains...

Our room has become a catchall... so another day to take photos... but here are the other areas...

 You know having three sisters sometimes makes the poor guy feel left out...so here is is one and only tiara model shot!  lol  What a goofball!  The things he does to get the baby to laugh! 

 I just love the curtains in the hall... just the right touch of gold... and the emboidered lace is so vintage... Cheryl always does such fantastic work!  I stop and look at them every time I pass through the laundry shoot!  hehehe

 It almost looks like a house!  :)  And I just made room for more ... BOXES!!!!  lol

 More shelves to be put in above microwave.... and above the mobile island as well... (below)....

 I am ready to move the chandelier...  I think we finally found the permanant spot for the table... I think!

 I know there is a box out there in a land far far away with their pictures of giraffes and crocodiles... We'll find it someday if the gnomes and elves dont hide it too well! heheeh

 Yes.. I am without lampshades... two broke in the move... so I am on the hunt for new ones...

Mr Whiskers says,"  Yep... this is as close as I get to the outside world... it looks wet and big and whew... it would take way to much energy to even get to the door... I better just lay here and hold this table in place..."

more later... tomorrow I deal with the Maytag repair man... a recall on our dishwasher... and unpack more boxes... maybe I'll take a few of the shop so we can always remember the chaos it was in the beginning too... thus the expression,"  Its in a box... in a land... far far away" ..:)   And off we go to the shop... to dig in the chaos of boxes and furniture still out there...

Happy homesteading! 

Outside updates...

I promised better updates... so around 3 pm as I was digging junk out of the garden still... my ears burned.  I heard Mom saying.... "heeellllooo... you promised pictures!"...  so here are outside updates.  I will do more inside tomorrow.  Monday is cleaning and laundry (kids and man are all gone and I can actually find the floors to mop and they are out of the way!)

 This is pretty much how Rebel guards anymore... my poor ol boy...lol  This is actually where we will put the chickens, but the picture loaded first instead of last...

 Down to just our garden pots along the fence line here... I have an area to clear out still to move them all... but the garbage and junk is gone!

 Welcome to our garden... you can see where Russ is bringing in the manure from the area where the chickens are going.  This used to be a goat farm, so there is LOTS and LOTS of manure to bring in... but the ground hasn't been worked in years, so it needs it. 

 this is a pile of bricks I have dug out of the garden area.  There is more piled up by where the chickens are now.  As I keep finding them I keep piling them.  The kids and I have decided to make a friendship path through our garden to Don and Cheryl's... we are going to paint them yellow... and of course have the yellow brick road running through the garden... :) 

 You can see where we have basically worn the path to head to Don and Cheryls... we need to make it more user friendly... no bad witches allowed!  hehehe

 There is a garden bed in there we need to dig out.  All the brush is where there is stuff buried, once its all gone Don said he'll bring the brush mower over and clean it up... and then we can til... I think one more afternoon and I will have most of the junk out and at least at the edges so we can turn the soil...

 Big huh?  I am at the greenhouse... and the garden goes basically all the way to the end of the lattice.. maybe another ten feet or so after it. 

 This is my nook I want cleared out for all my potting and planting.  I will need to find another planters bench, but I will clear out all the wire and "stuff"... :)

 I am at the apple tree by the other end of the garden... it needs some pruning as well... maybe tomorrow afternoon...

 Russ need to help me dig this out... He can do it faster with the tractor than I can with a shovel....

 Just more stuff... I keep burning and burning...

 this lovely pot cut my finger... I thought it was a half bucket... its not!  Its buried and the rim took a good chunk out of my ring finger...

 Grape vines... I am trying to get them cleared out and pruned way back... to see what is good and what is not... Not sure what I am doing with grapes, but hey..every adventure needs something new right? 

 My sidekick... she was a huge help today....

 it was an asparagus bed... but I never did see any asparagus... and its right in the way of tilling main areas... so Miranda and I moved all the blocks... which are two deep.  The lower ones were buried... but she pushed that shovel and lifted them just enough for me to pull them up.  What a great lil helper she is! 

 plum trees... that got seriously pruned today... some pulled up to plant elsewhere... the green thing is gone now too... it was broken, but actually a neat idea for composting...

 now you see it... now you dont!  Its gone... :)

 Our trees waiting to be planted... if I can figure out where to put them permanently! 

 I dug all the pvc out of the garden... I know some was to cover berries, the netting cut Russ all up when we had to pull it out... but the rest... I am not sure... but you can never have enough pvc...

 Yep... we have mud!

 I know you cant tell, but there is a chicken coop back in there.  This lil wooded area is what we will turn into the Little Girls play area.  Once the chickens are moved I can begin cleaning this up... the old coop will become a playhouse... a pressure washer, bleach, and kilz paint will create a neat little play house for the little ones...

 burn pile ready to go...

 There were pigs there in the past, and after the rain it got pretty soft... and for the first time ever...the truck got stuck... in our own yard... lol 

 and more mud... actually some was manure... its where Russ has began to haul it out from what used to be the goat field...

 just more to move.... every where I turn is another project....

 the ag building you see from the road... after the chicken coop is done, we will tackle the roof of this one and then the sides... to get it all repaired and locked up tight....

 more manure... and stuff to get rid of...

 the lil chicken coop... soon to be playhouse... and the trees that the goats killed.  We have I think three left to fall...

 Ahhha....  there they are... building a Poultry Palace?  We know overkill... but we are reusing the lumber from the last rabbitry and it will be sectioned off for meat birds later too... so not really... :)  And I wont hit my head!  lol 

 oh look... more manure!  hehehe

 Big Oaks by the road... we need to refence along there to actually fence in the property...

 a small area... Rascal should be out there... but he is Houdini... and never stays anywhere we try to put him...

 Awwww... she is growing up way to fast....

Speak of the Devil! 

Ok... my fingers hurt and I am pretty tired... 5:45 am comes early for us to get the kids on the bus... so until next time... :)  gnite!