January Thaw

It got up to over 40 degrees today!   It's been warm for a couple days now.  After the 30 below zero days, we are SO enjoying the warm weather!  We have been able to get out and do things outside, Harold has been able to cut and stack more firewood, and even the farm cats are enjoying the warmth.   Today I caught them sunning on the front step:

Seven of my farm cats were enjoying the warm sun this afternoon.  One kitty decided to see what I was doing with that camera thing!

When the others realized that I was on the other side of the door, they posed real pretty for a picture:

A few minutes later, the other cats decided that the front step was a nice warm place, and 13 of my farm cats posed for a rare picture!

Have you ever tried to photograph 13 cats at once?  Try it some time and see how that goes!  Two other cats were out somewhere else sunning or hunting.  We have 15 cats now.   We lost one the other day to an owl.  I always feel bad when that happens, but that is the way of nature and outdoor cats.  I still have plenty of beautiful cats, don't you think?  They all look very healthy, and have done well to survive the winter so far. 

Here are a few other photos I took this afternoon:

Harold takes the tractor out to the woods to haul in another tree to cut up.

The woodpile looks better now.   Harold is unchaining a big log he brought in.  The water was just dripping like crazy off the eaves in front of the window.

The greenhouse has survived the winter, too, without any damage other than the black plastic over the ventilation fan area which got somewhat shredded by blizzard winds.  The snow is off the roof, and it was 50 degrees in there today!  Hopefully the garlic that's growing under the hay bales in there is coming along nicely.  Everything is iced in and sealed up well now, so I don't want to open up the door.

The $41.25 Adventure

Earlier last week, we bought a pool table for $41.25 on a northern Minnesota online auction.   We had to go to Walker MN to pick the item up.   The night before we left, Harold plowed snow all around the basement walk-out door to make it easier to back the truck in with the table.   Of course, overnight, it snowed another 4 inches!   And got windy, too!  Well, we left for Walker and the roads were not even plowed yet.   But we only had two days to pick up the item, and one day was more or less out as we had to go elsewhere for an appointment.  We got there safely, and brought along a fairly strong friend to help with the loading.  A couple guys from the auction warehouse also helped us load the table onto our pickup truck.  We tarped it as best we could, and more snow was falling by this time.
     When we got home, we were able to unload the table easily into the basement.   But getting the truck back up the inclined yard was another problem with the added snowfall.  Harold figured he could pull the truck up the yard with his tractor/loader.   But it wouldn't start in the cold temps (it was almost 5 below zero by this time)!  So he took the battery out of my car, warmed it up in the house for a while, then put it in the tractor.   Now it started fine, and he pulled the truck up the inclined yard by the basement.  Nothing is ever simple, right?
     When the table thawed and the snow melted off of it, we put it together (the pool table was taken apart for ease of transport).   Here's a couple photos of our bargain table.  Not bad for $41.25, eh?  This table has had some real use, but it's still in good shape, and certainly good enough for us to have fun with.   It came with 10 cue sticks, a couple ball racks, a cue stick rack for the wall, all kinds of chalk, and extra balls, and a "ladies aid" cue stick.   I think we got our money's worth alone just on cue sticks.

Our new toy!   A nice used pool table!

Here's a closer view:

So, it may have been a horrible winter day when we went to get this, but we got there and back safely.  About 2 hours each way.   Our table technically cost us not just the $41.25, but also 3/4 tank of gas.   Still not bad.  Now, I just need to practice a little - because I sure stink at pool!

Are We Tough Or What?

I just heard on the news that Minnesota won the honor of having the worst winters in the nation!  Yep, we're famous for that! Michigan came in 2nd, and North Dakota came in 4th.   I can tell you that our winters are definitely COLD!  Check out this data as of right now (10:30 p.m.):

Current Weather

-24° F RealFeel® -35°

Clear

 

I figure we will be somewhere around 30 below by morning.  I always feel so bad for the poor animals out there, including my outdoor cats.   But they all huddle together in their insulated box in their cat house, which is insulated with snow right now.   They have incredibly thick fur at the present time, and plenty of winter fat.  I feed them 3 times a day and give them plenty of hot water.  I have even seen them sit in the pan of hot water to warm up!

     Well, it's warm in here and the house is making those cracking noises as it gets very cold.  The coldest I ever experienced was 58 below zero for an air temperature (not wind chill) back in 1997.

     Is it "cold enough for ya" in Minnesota??  Ya, sure you betcha!  Uff da. 

Happy New Year!

As you can see I have changed the looks of the blog for another year.  I always like to change things on January 1, because it just seems like the thing to do for a new year.   A fresh new look for a fresh new year!  A very Happy New Year to everyone!   Hard to believe that it is 2017.   Back in the 1950's, this seemed like so far into the future that nobody could even visualize such a year.   And now here it is.  I always wonder what new things, what new challenges, and what new blessings will come into play.   I know there will be tough times, good times, sad times and happy times.   The Lord is in charge, not me. 
     Speaking of the Lord, you might recall that last January 1st,  I signed up for the "read the Bible in a year" challenge at our church.   If I read through the Bible in a year I would get a new Bible, personalized with my name in gold on the cover.   Well, I did indeed meet the challenge and today at church I received my new Bible.   It is very nice, and the pastor even wrote a short message on the inside cover.   One of my favorite passages is Psalm 37 - look it up!  This passage deals with not worrying about how some folks seem to get away with wrongdoing, or how some seem to never have 'problems'.   This has been especially meaningful in 2016 when it seemed like celebrities, politicians, criminals and world figures "got away" with wrongdoings.   It is very frustrating when it seems like justice never happens, and yet most folks follow the rules and get nowhere.  But the Bible teaches us not to worry, that God is in charge and He will deal with things.   All those who seem to get away with crimes and bad living habits will have to answer to the Lord someday.  Someday there will be justice, but it might not be in my lifetime.  I think this has been a difficult year for many Americans, and day to day living has often been very stressful.   I have tried hard to turn off the news and withdraw from all the craziness, and live my own simple life.   But I like to keep up with what's happening in the world, and trying to find a good balance between "keeping up with the world" and "staying away from it all" has been a challenge.  I never want this blog to be political, but sometimes I just need to vent a little!   I look forward to warm spring weather when I can get outside and dig in the soil and get my "garden therapy"!

A page view from my new Bible.  I urge you to read Psalm 37, and tell me what you think!

Harold has been busy bringing in more firewood for heating the house.  He has a new system for cutting wood.  He cuts down a tree in our woods, then hauls it into the yard with his tractor/loader  and a chain.  Then he cuts it up right there by the stove!  This saves a whole step of having to cut the tree up into firewood chunks, then load it onto the pickup, maneuver the truck through the woods, then unload the pickup and stack it.   All that extra loading and unloading can be a bit much, especially as we get older!  Like the old saying goes:  We get too soon old and too late smart.

Harold brings in a tree to the yard to cut up for firewood.   This one is about 30 feet long, but the other day, he brought in one that was 60 feet long!  He had to put chains on the tractor to get through the snowy woods.

He stacks all the logs he brought in by the woodstove to cut up into chunks.  

Tomorrow I will begin taking down all the Christmas decorations and trees.  This is always a sad chore, as it seems like such a loooooong time until next Christmas will come.  I do so enjoy the lights and music and decorations and everything about Christmas, and I always hate to put the holiday away.   But really, the spirit of Christmas, the celebration of our Lord's birth, should be in our hearts all year long.
     I never make any resolutions for New Years.  I know I will never keep those resolutions.   Instead, I think about what didn't work, what did work, and try to improve everything about my little world.   I have plenty of new garden plans, loads of new recipes to try (I recently bought a huge box of 22 hard cover cookbooks at an auction for $2 total!), and of course there is always the need to live healthier and lose weight.    And I wonder what articles I will be writing about here on my blog!  I don't get many comments - why is that?  I welcome comments! 
    So - here we go!!  The new year 2017 is off and running!!