I hit my head on a nail. It bled a lot.
There are now pictures up of it... :-)
Also pictures of the awesome goats are posted.
Enjoy!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
"No Trips To The Hospital" or How We Missed The Dinner Party!
First off, let me clearly say, we're all fine... so breathe deeply and put away the panic :)
Ok, moving on...
Yesterday we decided to spend part of the day building our machine shed doors. We got the framing cut and installed... the doors cut down... the cross pieces installed... we were ready to install the hinges. After looking through our fasteners boxes, we found we didn't have the right length bolts and we'd need to get some. Not wanting to make a trip out, we decided to call it quits for the day... which would also leave us plenty of time to ready ourselves for the dinner party.
We started cleaning up, put one door in the machine shed, standing up against the wall... got the other one, I took one end, Shawn on the other... walk into the machine shed and all I hear is "Whack"... followed by tons of swearing that I wont repeat here. I look back and he's holding his head... I know he's whacked it.... its very short in the machine shed and he's freakishly tall.
I tell him to let go of the door so I can put it against the wall... he does... I move it... then he says to me "Is it bleeding?" He moves his hand and there's a huge amount of blood everywhere on his head ... I pause for a moment and say "A little" and I look up and notice two nail heads sticking out of one of the roof rafters about an inch or inchand a half... I then realize he not only whacked his head, but caught it on a nail head!
I cover the with my hand and I try to hurry him over to the house before the initial shock wears off... its a good distance and I need him closer to the house and the first aid supplies and somewhere I can watch him while I get what I need.
He starts to feel faint and nauseous as the blood is now pouring all over the both of us, but I urge him forward and remind him to breathe slowly and deeply. He's a big guy and I don't want him going down and I dont really want to deal with the dogs inside, so I set him on the back steps and put his hand over the cut while I go for paper towels and gauze.
I come back out and put the gauze over and wipe up what blood I can... We discuss the fact that he doesn't remember EVER having a tetanus shot... I leave him to get my computer to find out if any urgent care clinics are open, one is... way on the east side of ottawa and closes in less than an hour.
I have another look at the cut and its not horrible, it looks gruesome of course, but is only about an inch or so long total... in a "Y" shape. I decide then that we should go to the hospital, if for no other reason than the tetanus shot... so I load him into the car, take the dogs out to pee and get in the car. Shawn already had the GPS going with the route to the hospital.
So off we went... he was still in a fair bit of pain.. and feeling shaky... but he never did throw up... we arrive at the hospital just before 3pm and wait for triage... the nurse takes all the info, his temp, blood pressure, cleans up the blood off his forehead and gives him some tylenol.
We waited and waited... he felt better as time went on, of course... we considered leaving... I mean we had a dinner party to attend!! But we were still concerned about the tetanus shot, so we stayed.
We weren't there very long when I called our dinner party hosts and told them what had happened and we decided since we didnt know how long the hospital would take, we would reschedule... I felt so bad... I know she'd been cooking at least all day, if not for days before hand!!
Finally around 7pm, we were taken back... the nurse gave the tetanus shot and said the doc would be in to look at the wound. The staff was very friendly... and the doc cleaned it up some more and suggested he just glue the wound instead of stitching it... then he wouldn't have to go through the pain of having local freezing injected to the site, etc. Plus stitches in the top of your head have a tendency to pull quite a bit which would cause some discomfort until they came out.
Out came the crazy glue and he put a big glob on to cover the wound and sent us on our way... we were walking to the car just before 730pm. We headed straight home to let the dogs out and then we opened cans of soup to eat... we were starving!!
Just minutes after we got in the door, our host of the dinner party we missed called to check on Shawn, which I thought was very nice and thoughtful. They chatted a while and assured them he was ok. I'm sure he'll show off his injury at work tomorrow ;)
I started to feel more sick as the day progressed, I've been fighting a cold for a few days... and I was doing that wonderful fever / chills thing. We were in bed just after 10pm, early for us.. and I had like 3 layers of clothes on as I felt like I was freezing to death. I woke up around 2am and was finally warmer.
Ok, moving on...
Yesterday we decided to spend part of the day building our machine shed doors. We got the framing cut and installed... the doors cut down... the cross pieces installed... we were ready to install the hinges. After looking through our fasteners boxes, we found we didn't have the right length bolts and we'd need to get some. Not wanting to make a trip out, we decided to call it quits for the day... which would also leave us plenty of time to ready ourselves for the dinner party.
We started cleaning up, put one door in the machine shed, standing up against the wall... got the other one, I took one end, Shawn on the other... walk into the machine shed and all I hear is "Whack"... followed by tons of swearing that I wont repeat here. I look back and he's holding his head... I know he's whacked it.... its very short in the machine shed and he's freakishly tall.
I tell him to let go of the door so I can put it against the wall... he does... I move it... then he says to me "Is it bleeding?" He moves his hand and there's a huge amount of blood everywhere on his head ... I pause for a moment and say "A little" and I look up and notice two nail heads sticking out of one of the roof rafters about an inch or inchand a half... I then realize he not only whacked his head, but caught it on a nail head!
I cover the with my hand and I try to hurry him over to the house before the initial shock wears off... its a good distance and I need him closer to the house and the first aid supplies and somewhere I can watch him while I get what I need.
He starts to feel faint and nauseous as the blood is now pouring all over the both of us, but I urge him forward and remind him to breathe slowly and deeply. He's a big guy and I don't want him going down and I dont really want to deal with the dogs inside, so I set him on the back steps and put his hand over the cut while I go for paper towels and gauze.
I come back out and put the gauze over and wipe up what blood I can... We discuss the fact that he doesn't remember EVER having a tetanus shot... I leave him to get my computer to find out if any urgent care clinics are open, one is... way on the east side of ottawa and closes in less than an hour.
I have another look at the cut and its not horrible, it looks gruesome of course, but is only about an inch or so long total... in a "Y" shape. I decide then that we should go to the hospital, if for no other reason than the tetanus shot... so I load him into the car, take the dogs out to pee and get in the car. Shawn already had the GPS going with the route to the hospital.
So off we went... he was still in a fair bit of pain.. and feeling shaky... but he never did throw up... we arrive at the hospital just before 3pm and wait for triage... the nurse takes all the info, his temp, blood pressure, cleans up the blood off his forehead and gives him some tylenol.
We waited and waited... he felt better as time went on, of course... we considered leaving... I mean we had a dinner party to attend!! But we were still concerned about the tetanus shot, so we stayed.
We weren't there very long when I called our dinner party hosts and told them what had happened and we decided since we didnt know how long the hospital would take, we would reschedule... I felt so bad... I know she'd been cooking at least all day, if not for days before hand!!
Finally around 7pm, we were taken back... the nurse gave the tetanus shot and said the doc would be in to look at the wound. The staff was very friendly... and the doc cleaned it up some more and suggested he just glue the wound instead of stitching it... then he wouldn't have to go through the pain of having local freezing injected to the site, etc. Plus stitches in the top of your head have a tendency to pull quite a bit which would cause some discomfort until they came out.
Out came the crazy glue and he put a big glob on to cover the wound and sent us on our way... we were walking to the car just before 730pm. We headed straight home to let the dogs out and then we opened cans of soup to eat... we were starving!!
Just minutes after we got in the door, our host of the dinner party we missed called to check on Shawn, which I thought was very nice and thoughtful. They chatted a while and assured them he was ok. I'm sure he'll show off his injury at work tomorrow ;)
I started to feel more sick as the day progressed, I've been fighting a cold for a few days... and I was doing that wonderful fever / chills thing. We were in bed just after 10pm, early for us.. and I had like 3 layers of clothes on as I felt like I was freezing to death. I woke up around 2am and was finally warmer.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Less Hectic Week
I know its strangely out of character for me to be so quiet for so long... its been a strange sort of week.... the weather started out really warm at the beginning of the week... warm enough I should've had the AC on, but didn't. So there were a few nights I didn't sleep well and then felt zombie like all day.
My wrist has been bugging me also, which is not that usual anymore... I think I'm doing something weird with it at night, like trying to curl it... last night I wrapped it in vet wrap to keep it straighter and it wasn't near so horrible this morning.... I'll try that again tonight.
We've not been near so productive this week... Shawn did a bit of weed whacking one night... I started to cut some grass and then my mower stopped mowing... it was almost dark and hard to see what was going on. I figured I hit something, like rope or something that wrapped around the blades and bound it, being as the giant belt that makes it all go seemed to still be turning when engaged. We left it for that night, too hard to try to fix that when its almost dark.
Last night, we set aside the whole evening to fix the mower... I figured we'd have to take the deck off, flip the mower over and see what was caught up in it. We set up a table under the tarped building... gathered all the tools and owner's manual and brought the lawn tractor under since it was raining a bit. That worked out great... a nice place to work on stuff out of the rain! Yay :)
Anyhow, we did a few steps towards removing the deck and then the giant belt was supposed to come off the engine sheave and that's when Shawn noticed that the belt was above the pulley thing... so the belt HAD slipped, but instead of slipping down (like our last mower did once) it slipped up and made it almost impossible to see until we'd done all the other steps. Shawn worked his magic and put the belt back on the pulley and we decided to try it... we could always still remove the deck, if needed. Voila! It worked fine again.
So I assume on our ultra smooth and well groomed lawn that as I bumped over a bump the conditions were right for it to slip up. It was too wet last night to give it a really good test, but it worked again, so we cleaned up and put everything away.
That whole process took us less than 30 minutes!! So much for reserving a whole night! :)
I had put a whole chicken in the oven to be ready around 7 - 730 (when its getting too dark to work) and it was only 6pm! We hemmed and hawed for a short while about what we might do... but with the rain, it was kinda limited.
We decided we'd go inside and play Rampage on the Wii. Its a good game... an old game... some of you might remember playing it at Nick's in Balm Beach at the arcade. You play a genetically altered animal... George the monkey, for instance.... then you climb buildings and smash them up. That's pretty much the whole game.... destroy cities by smashing :) Its really remarkable though, for an older game like that (the graphics of course are new, etc) it has great game play. We've already had hours of entertainment from that one game!
While waiting for the chicken to be done, Shawn also told me today was potluck lunch day at work... you pay a couple bucks, bring some food and the proceeds go to the United Way. Of course, this was the first I had heard about the lunch and hadn't planned to make anything. Shawn just assumed he wouldn't have anything to bring. I had done grocery shopping earlier in the day and had bought a cake mix and can of frosting, so I offered to make that up for him to bring.
The chicken was very good... very tender, moist and juicy (those words always remind me of a dog food commercial! Blech!) and we ate almost half of the little chicken. I pulled the rest of the meat off the carcass and put in the freezer to add to soup or something at some point.
Then we cleaned up from dinner, did the dishes and then starting baking the cake. I'm not sure how it came about now, but somehow we decided that making a cake in the shape of an "E" (for the name of the company) would be fun. We made 2 small square cakes, one for us and one for work... the work one we cut out 2 slivers out of one side to make the letter "E"... we let it cool and then right before bed, we frosted it.
I wanted to cover it with foil to protect it on its journey into work.... then I realized I didn't have any toothpicks to stick in to keep the foil from sticking. Improvisation time.... I found some tootsie pops and we stuck those in to protect it. In the end, it kinda looked like something your early pre teen kid with no baking experience would make... but really, that's mostly who we are... early pre teen kids with no baking experience in 30+ year old bodies ;)
We'll see how the "E" cake went over... I'm sure it will just confirm suspicions about us being "odd folk", but that's ok... we've both been called much worse :)
Tomorrow evening is the dinner party... that should be fun... we'll have to some how remember to be on our best behaviour and all that... so I don't know how THAT will work out!! :) It sounds like there will be awesome food.. and awesome food is something we really like.
Sunday morning, we're going to head out to just outside Carleton Place and look at 2 baby goats that are for sale. They are almost 3 month old neutered male Nubian goats. Nubians are generally a dairy breed. Some consider them a "dual purpose" breed (dairy and meat) and I've read them described as a "fleshier dairy breed". They are the "down eared" or "lop eared" goats and generally have a pronounced roman nose.
I don't know what these two look like yet... no idea what colour they are or anything.... the seller has / had some pics, but has somehow lost them. I'll take some pics on Sunday and post them.
I'm still not sure if this will all work out or not and whether we'll actually get them or not... if we do, it wont be til the end of October or early November, as the seller is only just now starting to wean them and start them on grain. Some people wean as early as 8 weeks, but like everything else, there's great debate about whether that's good or not... this particular seller likes to leave them with mom a bit longer, assuming she's producing enough milk and is in good condition.
These 2 goats are brothers... 2/3 of triplets... the other is a girl, which the seller is keeping. Having two boy goats seems good to me.. .though I would NOT, if they weren't neutered... unneutered bucks do not make good pets, which of course, is the purpose of us buying these two.
So obviously the rush to get fencing up is starting to get under way... we spent one evening this week figuring out the first phase of fencing and I think its good to go... I need to get some posts and then fence building can commence. Hopefully we can have their fence up in a month... shouldn't be a big problem unless the weather doesn't cooperate! *knocks wood*
Worst case scenario, the goats can live in the dog's enclosure for a while and the dogs can just go out on leashes... I may put the goats up at night in the dog fence anyhow, for a while, to keep them safe from coyotes until a guard donkey can be found. I don't really like the idea of putting the two little meatballs out as coyote bait, while I'm trying to sleep... that's just the sort of thing I do NOT want to come out in the morning to!!
Even if these two particular goats don't work out for some reason... we'll still move forward on the fencing... because... if you build it... they will come :) There's always more goats / horses / donkeys / etc available and needing a good home.
I think we're going to build them a shelter, instead of trying to have the goat house done and ready in a month... I think the goat house wouldn't take much work to get it ready to store some hay and straw though, so that's the current and ever changing plan.
I'm kinda hoping to get the machine shed door installed tomorrow (before our dinner party) but I don't know if that's overly ambitious... hopefully we'll at least get a good start... then hay/straw could also be stored in the white building.
So that's where we're at right now... many people I talk to think we're nuts for getting goats... and maybe we are... maybe we'll regret it... hard to say... but I've always wanted goats and I'm willing to give it a good try! If nothing else, they should make for some interesting blog posts! ;)
My wrist has been bugging me also, which is not that usual anymore... I think I'm doing something weird with it at night, like trying to curl it... last night I wrapped it in vet wrap to keep it straighter and it wasn't near so horrible this morning.... I'll try that again tonight.
We've not been near so productive this week... Shawn did a bit of weed whacking one night... I started to cut some grass and then my mower stopped mowing... it was almost dark and hard to see what was going on. I figured I hit something, like rope or something that wrapped around the blades and bound it, being as the giant belt that makes it all go seemed to still be turning when engaged. We left it for that night, too hard to try to fix that when its almost dark.
Last night, we set aside the whole evening to fix the mower... I figured we'd have to take the deck off, flip the mower over and see what was caught up in it. We set up a table under the tarped building... gathered all the tools and owner's manual and brought the lawn tractor under since it was raining a bit. That worked out great... a nice place to work on stuff out of the rain! Yay :)
Anyhow, we did a few steps towards removing the deck and then the giant belt was supposed to come off the engine sheave and that's when Shawn noticed that the belt was above the pulley thing... so the belt HAD slipped, but instead of slipping down (like our last mower did once) it slipped up and made it almost impossible to see until we'd done all the other steps. Shawn worked his magic and put the belt back on the pulley and we decided to try it... we could always still remove the deck, if needed. Voila! It worked fine again.
So I assume on our ultra smooth and well groomed lawn
That whole process took us less than 30 minutes!! So much for reserving a whole night! :)
I had put a whole chicken in the oven to be ready around 7 - 730 (when its getting too dark to work) and it was only 6pm! We hemmed and hawed for a short while about what we might do... but with the rain, it was kinda limited.
We decided we'd go inside and play Rampage on the Wii. Its a good game... an old game... some of you might remember playing it at Nick's in Balm Beach at the arcade. You play a genetically altered animal... George the monkey, for instance.... then you climb buildings and smash them up. That's pretty much the whole game.... destroy cities by smashing :) Its really remarkable though, for an older game like that (the graphics of course are new, etc) it has great game play. We've already had hours of entertainment from that one game!
While waiting for the chicken to be done, Shawn also told me today was potluck lunch day at work... you pay a couple bucks, bring some food and the proceeds go to the United Way. Of course, this was the first I had heard about the lunch and hadn't planned to make anything. Shawn just assumed he wouldn't have anything to bring. I had done grocery shopping earlier in the day and had bought a cake mix and can of frosting, so I offered to make that up for him to bring.
The chicken was very good... very tender, moist and juicy (those words always remind me of a dog food commercial! Blech!) and we ate almost half of the little chicken. I pulled the rest of the meat off the carcass and put in the freezer to add to soup or something at some point.
Then we cleaned up from dinner, did the dishes and then starting baking the cake. I'm not sure how it came about now, but somehow we decided that making a cake in the shape of an "E" (for the name of the company) would be fun. We made 2 small square cakes, one for us and one for work... the work one we cut out 2 slivers out of one side to make the letter "E"... we let it cool and then right before bed, we frosted it.
I wanted to cover it with foil to protect it on its journey into work.... then I realized I didn't have any toothpicks to stick in to keep the foil from sticking. Improvisation time.... I found some tootsie pops and we stuck those in to protect it. In the end, it kinda looked like something your early pre teen kid with no baking experience would make... but really, that's mostly who we are... early pre teen kids with no baking experience in 30+ year old bodies ;)
We'll see how the "E" cake went over... I'm sure it will just confirm suspicions about us being "odd folk", but that's ok... we've both been called much worse :)
Tomorrow evening is the dinner party... that should be fun... we'll have to some how remember to be on our best behaviour and all that... so I don't know how THAT will work out!! :) It sounds like there will be awesome food.. and awesome food is something we really like.
Sunday morning, we're going to head out to just outside Carleton Place and look at 2 baby goats that are for sale. They are almost 3 month old neutered male Nubian goats. Nubians are generally a dairy breed. Some consider them a "dual purpose" breed (dairy and meat) and I've read them described as a "fleshier dairy breed". They are the "down eared" or "lop eared" goats and generally have a pronounced roman nose.
I don't know what these two look like yet... no idea what colour they are or anything.... the seller has / had some pics, but has somehow lost them. I'll take some pics on Sunday and post them.
I'm still not sure if this will all work out or not and whether we'll actually get them or not... if we do, it wont be til the end of October or early November, as the seller is only just now starting to wean them and start them on grain. Some people wean as early as 8 weeks, but like everything else, there's great debate about whether that's good or not... this particular seller likes to leave them with mom a bit longer, assuming she's producing enough milk and is in good condition.
These 2 goats are brothers... 2/3 of triplets... the other is a girl, which the seller is keeping. Having two boy goats seems good to me.. .though I would NOT, if they weren't neutered... unneutered bucks do not make good pets, which of course, is the purpose of us buying these two.
So obviously the rush to get fencing up is starting to get under way... we spent one evening this week figuring out the first phase of fencing and I think its good to go... I need to get some posts and then fence building can commence. Hopefully we can have their fence up in a month... shouldn't be a big problem unless the weather doesn't cooperate! *knocks wood*
Worst case scenario, the goats can live in the dog's enclosure for a while and the dogs can just go out on leashes... I may put the goats up at night in the dog fence anyhow, for a while, to keep them safe from coyotes until a guard donkey can be found. I don't really like the idea of putting the two little meatballs out as coyote bait, while I'm trying to sleep... that's just the sort of thing I do NOT want to come out in the morning to!!
Even if these two particular goats don't work out for some reason... we'll still move forward on the fencing... because... if you build it... they will come :) There's always more goats / horses / donkeys / etc available and needing a good home.
I think we're going to build them a shelter, instead of trying to have the goat house done and ready in a month... I think the goat house wouldn't take much work to get it ready to store some hay and straw though, so that's the current and ever changing plan.
I'm kinda hoping to get the machine shed door installed tomorrow (before our dinner party) but I don't know if that's overly ambitious... hopefully we'll at least get a good start... then hay/straw could also be stored in the white building.
So that's where we're at right now... many people I talk to think we're nuts for getting goats... and maybe we are... maybe we'll regret it... hard to say... but I've always wanted goats and I'm willing to give it a good try! If nothing else, they should make for some interesting blog posts! ;)
Monday, September 24, 2007
Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!
Congratulations on another anniversary Mom and Dad! ... #41, I believe! That's a heck of a long time... and after all that time, someone deserves a medal for sure!! But instead of choosing who deserves it more, I'll be my usual diplomatic / kiss ass self and say you BOTH deserve it :)
But seriously... thanks for setting a good example of love, commitment, patience and tolerance for your kids and grandkids... of course, with a heavy emphasis on patience and tolerance! ;)
Love you guys... hope you get to do something fun to celebrate!
But seriously... thanks for setting a good example of love, commitment, patience and tolerance for your kids and grandkids... of course, with a heavy emphasis on patience and tolerance! ;)
Love you guys... hope you get to do something fun to celebrate!
Friday, September 21, 2007
I Have No Life... OR... Post # 4!
So this is only post #3 to THIS blog... I also posted to Jess's blog today... along with the link to her pics that I got off her cell phone from her and Kyle's trip up the CN Tower and on their pirate ship cruise.
I also posted more pics to the FHH album ... I posted to Outbuilding Updates to show some of the stuff we've been working on... a couple of the buildings have splotches of their new colours on them... so I could see if I like 'em, which I do.
I also posted to More Random Pics ... and put a few pics I took just today from the bedroom windows... the colours are brighter in person than in pics, sadly.... they still have a long way to go, though. There's a couple pics of the house, with my 6 little pie pumpkins on the front steps... I couldn't resist 6 pumpkins for $5 at Farm Boy... they are pretty. I imagine something will come eat them, but until then, I like seeing 'em when I come home.
In More Random Pics are also a few pics I took on my way home from getting a few groceries today... I went out through Carp and it was just so pretty... the very bright sunshine did wash them out a bit... but I posted them anyhow! :)
So between the FHH blog and album.. and Jess's blog and album... there's TONS of new content today!!
I also posted more pics to the FHH album ... I posted to Outbuilding Updates to show some of the stuff we've been working on... a couple of the buildings have splotches of their new colours on them... so I could see if I like 'em, which I do.
I also posted to More Random Pics ... and put a few pics I took just today from the bedroom windows... the colours are brighter in person than in pics, sadly.... they still have a long way to go, though. There's a couple pics of the house, with my 6 little pie pumpkins on the front steps... I couldn't resist 6 pumpkins for $5 at Farm Boy... they are pretty. I imagine something will come eat them, but until then, I like seeing 'em when I come home.
In More Random Pics are also a few pics I took on my way home from getting a few groceries today... I went out through Carp and it was just so pretty... the very bright sunshine did wash them out a bit... but I posted them anyhow! :)
So between the FHH blog and album.. and Jess's blog and album... there's TONS of new content today!!
Kyle & Jess...
Happy one year anniversary you two!
Good luck and best wishes! Hope you have a fun weekend!
Good luck and best wishes! Hope you have a fun weekend!
General Catch Up
What a beautiful week of weather we've had!! Its been absolutely lovely here... today I think is supposed to get to 28 C, which is a little warmer than I like, but for right now there's still a lovely breeze coming in the windows.
With this great weather, we've been working really hard to get stuff done. I hate to waste the nice days and evenings, who knows how many more there will be??
So this week, we've been eating supper later, after dark, in order to squeeze about 2 hours of work in while its still light. Its kinda strange to be cooking and eating around 8pm and doesn't leave any time to have SNACK, which sucks, but we're coping ;)
Let's see... this week I got all the parts for the machine shed doors painted with two coats.... both pieces of plywood (all sides), 3 pieces of 2x6 pressure treat that will get attached to the machine shed door way to help with the door installation... and 5 pieces of 1x3 spruce that will get attached to the plywood to help ward off warping of the plywood (hopefully and in theory!)
All that painting took me both days, Tuesday and Wednesday... in those evenings we worked on different stuff... moving stone dust to the tarped building... and that's now mostly done... I need to water it yet, but I've already compacted using the lawn tractor AND the mini van and it seems really stable and solid. But I'll still water it to finish firming it... then we also have a 4x4 to install at the far end to ensure no eroding of the stone dust happens long term. We'll likely have to add a shovel or two once that 4x4 goes down, but nothing major.
It sure looks nice now under the tarped building, being mostly flat and level and not full of weeds and stuff... its no longer scary to go under there, which is NICE :) We do need to replace a couple of the bungee cords that help secure the tarped part, as they are worn and not really providing support any more, but again, that's not a big deal.
Last night, Shawn and I worked at the grass, which hasn't been cut in a while... we've been busy doing other things. I didn't get all the lawn finished, but I did get quite a bit done out the back and around the outbuildings. Shawn weed whacked the remaining chunk between the goat house and the old nasty metal building. I then went over it and chopped it up... its so nice and clear there now.
There's still a chunk next to the nasty old metal building he wants to get... maybe tonight we'll do some more grass stuff... then I could get the lawn finished.
Then soon its time to pull out the chainsaw and clean up the trees around the outbuildings now that you can get through the grass a bit easier. Not sure if we'll get to that this weekend or not... we also have to finish prepping the machine shed for the doors to get installed (remove the electric panel and wiring)... paint the machine shed around the door frame to protect it from water damage (I'll eventually do the whole front face, but it'll likely happen in 2 stages.) Then of course the doors have to be cut to size and assembled... touch up painting where the cuts happen, then installed.
THEN the machinery can be moved to that building... and the cheap fencing we got a few weeks ago can be stored in the little white building until needed... which is hopefully SOON... I really want to get some dog fencing up soon at least!!
Man, I'm just exhausted THINKING about all the work!
Plus this weekend is the Carp Fall Fair.. which we plan to attend... Its supposed to be one of the better fairs in the area... there should at least be tasty fair food! :)
And next weekend we've been invited to a dinner party by one of Shawn's coworkers and his wife.... That should be fun... its not something we've ever done before... you know, given how antisocial we are and all!!... and his wife is apparently a very good cook, so that should be awesome!
The same coworker actually has lent us their Nintendo Wii (A BIG thanks!!) (for those who don't know what it is, its a game console... you know, video games ;) )to try out... we hooked it up last night and it was pretty neat. The Wii's are apparently easier to get now, so we'll try it out and then decide if we're going to get one or not. So far, its rather entertaining and WAY easier to play and control than the xbox, for instance. Even old folks like Shawn and I can have a chance... even the first night with no previous experience... so that's something :)
I'm sitting upstairs in our bedroom at the desk... plugged into wired internet (wireless was being slow and I was being impatient) and I keep hearing the neighbour's sheep baa baa baaing... not sure what's up over there, but someone is unhappy!! Funny sheep and their funny sheep noises :) (We also heard their guard donkey the other day and it was such a funny noise... I laughed and laughed... I love donkeys!)
Well, enough procrastinating... I have work to do!
With this great weather, we've been working really hard to get stuff done. I hate to waste the nice days and evenings, who knows how many more there will be??
So this week, we've been eating supper later, after dark, in order to squeeze about 2 hours of work in while its still light. Its kinda strange to be cooking and eating around 8pm and doesn't leave any time to have SNACK, which sucks, but we're coping ;)
Let's see... this week I got all the parts for the machine shed doors painted with two coats.... both pieces of plywood (all sides), 3 pieces of 2x6 pressure treat that will get attached to the machine shed door way to help with the door installation... and 5 pieces of 1x3 spruce that will get attached to the plywood to help ward off warping of the plywood (hopefully and in theory!)
All that painting took me both days, Tuesday and Wednesday... in those evenings we worked on different stuff... moving stone dust to the tarped building... and that's now mostly done... I need to water it yet, but I've already compacted using the lawn tractor AND the mini van and it seems really stable and solid. But I'll still water it to finish firming it... then we also have a 4x4 to install at the far end to ensure no eroding of the stone dust happens long term. We'll likely have to add a shovel or two once that 4x4 goes down, but nothing major.
It sure looks nice now under the tarped building, being mostly flat and level and not full of weeds and stuff... its no longer scary to go under there, which is NICE :) We do need to replace a couple of the bungee cords that help secure the tarped part, as they are worn and not really providing support any more, but again, that's not a big deal.
Last night, Shawn and I worked at the grass, which hasn't been cut in a while... we've been busy doing other things. I didn't get all the lawn finished, but I did get quite a bit done out the back and around the outbuildings. Shawn weed whacked the remaining chunk between the goat house and the old nasty metal building. I then went over it and chopped it up... its so nice and clear there now.
There's still a chunk next to the nasty old metal building he wants to get... maybe tonight we'll do some more grass stuff... then I could get the lawn finished.
Then soon its time to pull out the chainsaw and clean up the trees around the outbuildings now that you can get through the grass a bit easier. Not sure if we'll get to that this weekend or not... we also have to finish prepping the machine shed for the doors to get installed (remove the electric panel and wiring)... paint the machine shed around the door frame to protect it from water damage (I'll eventually do the whole front face, but it'll likely happen in 2 stages.) Then of course the doors have to be cut to size and assembled... touch up painting where the cuts happen, then installed.
THEN the machinery can be moved to that building... and the cheap fencing we got a few weeks ago can be stored in the little white building until needed... which is hopefully SOON... I really want to get some dog fencing up soon at least!!
Man, I'm just exhausted THINKING about all the work!
Plus this weekend is the Carp Fall Fair.. which we plan to attend... Its supposed to be one of the better fairs in the area... there should at least be tasty fair food! :)
And next weekend we've been invited to a dinner party by one of Shawn's coworkers and his wife.... That should be fun... its not something we've ever done before... you know, given how antisocial we are and all!!... and his wife is apparently a very good cook, so that should be awesome!
The same coworker actually has lent us their Nintendo Wii (A BIG thanks!!) (for those who don't know what it is, its a game console... you know, video games ;) )to try out... we hooked it up last night and it was pretty neat. The Wii's are apparently easier to get now, so we'll try it out and then decide if we're going to get one or not. So far, its rather entertaining and WAY easier to play and control than the xbox, for instance. Even old folks like Shawn and I can have a chance... even the first night with no previous experience... so that's something :)
I'm sitting upstairs in our bedroom at the desk... plugged into wired internet (wireless was being slow and I was being impatient) and I keep hearing the neighbour's sheep baa baa baaing... not sure what's up over there, but someone is unhappy!! Funny sheep and their funny sheep noises :) (We also heard their guard donkey the other day and it was such a funny noise... I laughed and laughed... I love donkeys!)
Well, enough procrastinating... I have work to do!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Jess Versus Technology... The Winner Is...
Technology!!
For anyone trying to reach Jess via email... don't bother... her internet is not operational once again (long story!!) but will be probably on the weekend. (So no blog updates until this is resolved.)
And don't try to call her cell... its on the fritz and is getting replaced....
Call her on her land line and leave voice mail if she's not there... so far, THAT's still working *knocks wood*
Poor girl is practically living in the dark ages now... with *gasp* only a land line phone! ;)
For anyone trying to reach Jess via email... don't bother... her internet is not operational once again (long story!!) but will be probably on the weekend. (So no blog updates until this is resolved.)
And don't try to call her cell... its on the fritz and is getting replaced....
Call her on her land line and leave voice mail if she's not there... so far, THAT's still working *knocks wood*
Poor girl is practically living in the dark ages now... with *gasp* only a land line phone! ;)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Always Something Funny Around Here... Part 2
We woke up this morning and the day started like pretty much every other day. The sun was shining in my eyes through the little cord holes in the blinds... I was tired and a bit cranky... Shawn was tired, but not cranky!
I opened the blinds next to my side of the bed and opened the window a bit. It was a bit hazy over the long grass and I commented to Shawn that it was pretty. We both opened the blinds that face out the back of the property, Shawn opened the blinds and window over the hot tub so I didn't have to vault up there and do it myself.
I stood there, looking out the window for a minute and then *blink blink* what do I see? *blink blink* and them I say "Umm...." and Shawn looks out the window and confirms I'm not just seeing things. There were 2 horses (a chestnut [brown] and a black) and 3 sheep (2 that were mostly white and one that had black on it) in the field next to our house! They were *just* on the other side of the fence, but near the dog enclosure.
We stood there and watched the "mixed herd" for a few minutes... the brown horse was clearly the leader and the 3 sheep followed it all around very closely... the black one bringing up the rear and lollygagging behind a bit. They seemed to be on a mission as they moved back along the fenceline like they had a purpose. They lingered a while in the swampy area back there and by that time I was dressed and out the door.
I hollered at them and they started moving on again... then it was time to take out the idiots, I mean DOGS and they went bananarama barking and carrying on in the enclosure. The horses and sheep moved off a bit more, following our back fence line and heading what *I* would call south (so its likely wrong! maybe east? who knows?)
It wasn't long and they had moved out of sight. There didn't seem to be anyone looking for them, so we really hope they found their way home. I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen those horses before... they were a good size, maybe draft crosses and seemed to be having a pretty good time exploring... but they mostly just walked, there was no running, bucking or farting.
So we have no idea where they came from... but it seems there's always something weird going on around here.... like DAILY!!
I told Shawn we really need to figure out how to build fence fast... we could've built fencing right around that little mixed herd and called 'em ours.. .but then of course, I would've been sad that I didn't save some of that hay, now wouldn't I?! :)
It's always something. I'm grateful that it was at least entertaining and that they weren't hit on the road or anything.
I opened the blinds next to my side of the bed and opened the window a bit. It was a bit hazy over the long grass and I commented to Shawn that it was pretty. We both opened the blinds that face out the back of the property, Shawn opened the blinds and window over the hot tub so I didn't have to vault up there and do it myself.
I stood there, looking out the window for a minute and then *blink blink* what do I see? *blink blink* and them I say "Umm...." and Shawn looks out the window and confirms I'm not just seeing things. There were 2 horses (a chestnut [brown] and a black) and 3 sheep (2 that were mostly white and one that had black on it) in the field next to our house! They were *just* on the other side of the fence, but near the dog enclosure.
We stood there and watched the "mixed herd" for a few minutes... the brown horse was clearly the leader and the 3 sheep followed it all around very closely... the black one bringing up the rear and lollygagging behind a bit. They seemed to be on a mission as they moved back along the fenceline like they had a purpose. They lingered a while in the swampy area back there and by that time I was dressed and out the door.
I hollered at them and they started moving on again... then it was time to take out the idiots, I mean DOGS and they went bananarama barking and carrying on in the enclosure. The horses and sheep moved off a bit more, following our back fence line and heading what *I* would call south (so its likely wrong! maybe east? who knows?)
It wasn't long and they had moved out of sight. There didn't seem to be anyone looking for them, so we really hope they found their way home. I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen those horses before... they were a good size, maybe draft crosses and seemed to be having a pretty good time exploring... but they mostly just walked, there was no running, bucking or farting.
So we have no idea where they came from... but it seems there's always something weird going on around here.... like DAILY!!
I told Shawn we really need to figure out how to build fence fast... we could've built fencing right around that little mixed herd and called 'em ours.. .but then of course, I would've been sad that I didn't save some of that hay, now wouldn't I?! :)
It's always something. I'm grateful that it was at least entertaining and that they weren't hit on the road or anything.
Always Something Funny Around Here... Part 1(a)
Just a little extra tidbit of information on that last story --
Throughout the whole outing, crawling around in the ditch, everything, I was wearing boots but no socks. :-) It made the whole thing a little bit more surreal.
-Shawn.
Throughout the whole outing, crawling around in the ditch, everything, I was wearing boots but no socks. :-) It made the whole thing a little bit more surreal.
-Shawn.
Always Something Funny Around Here... Part 1
So part 1 of the story began Sunday night, just before 10pm... Shawn and I had just finished playing a couple games of Scrabble and were tired... we went upstairs to shower and get ready for bed. It was chilly, so I started shutting windows and blinds and when I got to the bedroom window that faces out on the driveway, I can see a vehicle pulled to the side of the road with its lights on. Being nosy, I watch for a couple minutes then realize that not only is there a vehicle, there's someone walking around in the ditch in our front field, just on the other side of the trees.
I call Shawn over to verify this and indeed I'm not just seeing things. (yay!!) Immediately, I'm a little mad and consider yelling out the window to get off my property. I think "Jeeze, I moved out of suburbia to get away from people, now get away from me!" I'm feeling kinda offended and cranky. I decide I'm gonna go out there and confront them and see what's going on.
So I grab my sweater and run downstairs, grab my keys and boots and Shawn and I both get in the van and drive down the driveway. It occurs to me before we get there that perhaps they hit a deer or something and that possible scenario plays through my head... and makes me a little less angry.
As we go down the driveway, we see something obstructing the end of our driveway... as we get closer, it looks like... hay? We drive down as far as we can, then get out and approach the pulled over vehicle. We can hear the people's voices, but not see them as the headlights are blinding us. Once we get close I holler out "Hello?" They respond and then I ask "Did you lose some hay?"
"No, its not our hay, but we're loading up our truck, we could use it for our horses." Our eyes are then starting to adjust and we can see a bit more of what's going on... all along the front of our property there's bales of hay and loose hay... down in the ditch there's more! The guy is down in the ditch and bringing bales back up to the road and then loading them.
I send Shawn up to the house for flashlights and when he comes back, it makes a huge difference and we can really see what's going on. All together there must have been 20 - 30 square bales that someone lost. So the people have their truck loaded and say they'll be back for the rest, they just live up the road a bit.
Shawn and I start to kick all the loose flakes into piles... pull the loose hay off our mailbox (which now leans to the side a bit more than it did!)... pull the loose hay off our garbage and out of our black recycling box. We drive back up to the outbuildings and get my plastic manure fork and my metal garden fork and head back down.
Shawn climbed down in the scary ditch with the metal fork and pulled up some more bales and we set them on the very edge of the ditch. Its quite steep down into the ditch there and the grass is really long and is matted in many layers... Shawn figures at many points there that the grass layers are like a foot thick... so its very springy and hard to walk on. I stayed up at the side of the ditch, holding the light ;)
So we wait for the people to come back... and it seems to be taking a long time. We start to discuss whether WE want to save any of the hay for ourselves or not. We decide that we'd rather not, as we don't have a good place to put it right now, it'll just get damp or wet and ruined... and we don't really NEED it right now... Shawn wonders how much the hay is worth... I tell him its going for about $3 a bale around here right now. He thinks this is very funny that its so cheap... he wont be laughing when and if the time comes and we have more mouths to feed and he finds out how quickly they can consume / pee /poop /waste $3 of hay ;)
Then we hear more voices... and see a light coming down the neighbour across the street's driveway. They have 2 ponies and an assortment of dogs and kids. I call out to them and they've come out to see about the hay also. They are worried that hay left on the road will attract their ponies and they will get hit. They mention that they are well aware there are holes in their fences and that its entirely possible the ponies could leave.
They brought some big clear plastic bags with them and they start filling them with hay. They express an interest that they'd really like the rest of the hay, but have no way of getting it back up their long driveway. It starts to seem like the first people might not be back. I don't really want the hay left on the road in front of my house... maybe it would attract deer... they'd get hit... I'd feel bad... or maybe I would have to clean it up or something unpleasant... I'd really rather it go away and someone get some use out of it.
So I suggest that we could put some hay in the van and take it up for them. So we fill the entire back of the mini van with bales and loose hay. We only have the two front seats in, so there's plenty of room and we get a whole bunch in. We pack it tight and then there's still a few more bales and loose stuff. Just when we're about ready to drive it down their lane, the original people show up and want more.
The original people are annoyed that someone else got some hay... the people across the street are annoyed that they came back... everyone seems really resentful of everyone else and suspicious... really weird...so of course, I say things like "lots of free hay for everyone" and I help throw the last few bales into the original people's truck... then its all cleaned up and they leave.
Shawn and I then go down the neighbour's long driveway and park up near their barn. They catch up on foot and they say its ok ot just unload it there...so we do.
While unloading, I hear they are getting 2 more horses and I ask a bunch of questions... they already have the pony mare and her almost 4 month old colt... and the 2 new horses are both STUDS. One stud they are planning to keep and the other has some complicated future ahead of it that involves a friend trading the stud for a mare or something.
So these people, that admit they KNOW there are breaks in their fence are getting 2 studs... one stud at least long term... and they plan to breed the pony mare to the stud they are keeping. Jayne, are you getting a clear picture of this??? ARGH!!
But I'm polite, I try really hard not to say anything judgmental... I don't offer any advice... I don't express any concerns... I dump the hay and we get going.
I can just imagine how this might play out though. Good grief.
So that's my funny little story about someone that lost some hay and the scavengers that emerged to "clean up" the hay.... it reminded me of how we used to put stuff we didn't want at the curb at our old house and within an hour, sometimes minutes, sometimes we didn't even get it all to the curb, someone would swoop in and claim it.
Also a good reminder to not put things near the road you actually WANT ;)
I'm still curious how someone could lose 20 - 30 bales and not notice... not come back... not clean it up... seems weird to me... guess they realized it wasn't worth all that much $$ either!!
So yesterday, I spent the morning with the shop vac, then the dyson vacuum cleaning up the van of all the hay residue and the dog hair that was already there. It cleaned up really nice... in the morning when I took Shawn to work, it looked like a barnyard on wheels... when I picked Shawn up at 5pm, he wondered if I'd traded the van in for a similar, but cleaner, one!
I made another trip to TSC yesterday and bought another black rubber stall mat. Now, with just the front seats in, the whole back of the van is matted in 2 pieces. With Jess gone, we don't really need the other seats in, the van is much more useful to us this way... for carrying fencing, hay... goodness only knows what else!!
Plus the dogs get good traction all around the back, which they like... it also helps protect the van a bit from stuff getting into the carpet and from scratching things up. Being as its in 2 pieces, it wont be too horrible to remove for those few times when more seats are needed. As I said to Shawn, its about as close to a pickup truck as I can get right now... sad but true ;)
I call Shawn over to verify this and indeed I'm not just seeing things. (yay!!) Immediately, I'm a little mad and consider yelling out the window to get off my property. I think "Jeeze, I moved out of suburbia to get away from people, now get away from me!" I'm feeling kinda offended and cranky. I decide I'm gonna go out there and confront them and see what's going on.
So I grab my sweater and run downstairs, grab my keys and boots and Shawn and I both get in the van and drive down the driveway. It occurs to me before we get there that perhaps they hit a deer or something and that possible scenario plays through my head... and makes me a little less angry.
As we go down the driveway, we see something obstructing the end of our driveway... as we get closer, it looks like... hay? We drive down as far as we can, then get out and approach the pulled over vehicle. We can hear the people's voices, but not see them as the headlights are blinding us. Once we get close I holler out "Hello?" They respond and then I ask "Did you lose some hay?"
"No, its not our hay, but we're loading up our truck, we could use it for our horses." Our eyes are then starting to adjust and we can see a bit more of what's going on... all along the front of our property there's bales of hay and loose hay... down in the ditch there's more! The guy is down in the ditch and bringing bales back up to the road and then loading them.
I send Shawn up to the house for flashlights and when he comes back, it makes a huge difference and we can really see what's going on. All together there must have been 20 - 30 square bales that someone lost. So the people have their truck loaded and say they'll be back for the rest, they just live up the road a bit.
Shawn and I start to kick all the loose flakes into piles... pull the loose hay off our mailbox (which now leans to the side a bit more than it did!)... pull the loose hay off our garbage and out of our black recycling box. We drive back up to the outbuildings and get my plastic manure fork and my metal garden fork and head back down.
Shawn climbed down in the scary ditch with the metal fork and pulled up some more bales and we set them on the very edge of the ditch. Its quite steep down into the ditch there and the grass is really long and is matted in many layers... Shawn figures at many points there that the grass layers are like a foot thick... so its very springy and hard to walk on. I stayed up at the side of the ditch, holding the light ;)
So we wait for the people to come back... and it seems to be taking a long time. We start to discuss whether WE want to save any of the hay for ourselves or not. We decide that we'd rather not, as we don't have a good place to put it right now, it'll just get damp or wet and ruined... and we don't really NEED it right now... Shawn wonders how much the hay is worth... I tell him its going for about $3 a bale around here right now. He thinks this is very funny that its so cheap... he wont be laughing when and if the time comes and we have more mouths to feed and he finds out how quickly they can consume / pee /poop /waste $3 of hay ;)
Then we hear more voices... and see a light coming down the neighbour across the street's driveway. They have 2 ponies and an assortment of dogs and kids. I call out to them and they've come out to see about the hay also. They are worried that hay left on the road will attract their ponies and they will get hit. They mention that they are well aware there are holes in their fences and that its entirely possible the ponies could leave.
They brought some big clear plastic bags with them and they start filling them with hay. They express an interest that they'd really like the rest of the hay, but have no way of getting it back up their long driveway. It starts to seem like the first people might not be back. I don't really want the hay left on the road in front of my house... maybe it would attract deer... they'd get hit... I'd feel bad... or maybe I would have to clean it up or something unpleasant... I'd really rather it go away and someone get some use out of it.
So I suggest that we could put some hay in the van and take it up for them. So we fill the entire back of the mini van with bales and loose hay. We only have the two front seats in, so there's plenty of room and we get a whole bunch in. We pack it tight and then there's still a few more bales and loose stuff. Just when we're about ready to drive it down their lane, the original people show up and want more.
The original people are annoyed that someone else got some hay... the people across the street are annoyed that they came back... everyone seems really resentful of everyone else and suspicious... really weird...so of course, I say things like "lots of free hay for everyone" and I help throw the last few bales into the original people's truck... then its all cleaned up and they leave.
Shawn and I then go down the neighbour's long driveway and park up near their barn. They catch up on foot and they say its ok ot just unload it there...so we do.
While unloading, I hear they are getting 2 more horses and I ask a bunch of questions... they already have the pony mare and her almost 4 month old colt... and the 2 new horses are both STUDS. One stud they are planning to keep and the other has some complicated future ahead of it that involves a friend trading the stud for a mare or something.
So these people, that admit they KNOW there are breaks in their fence are getting 2 studs... one stud at least long term... and they plan to breed the pony mare to the stud they are keeping. Jayne, are you getting a clear picture of this??? ARGH!!
But I'm polite, I try really hard not to say anything judgmental... I don't offer any advice... I don't express any concerns... I dump the hay and we get going.
I can just imagine how this might play out though. Good grief.
So that's my funny little story about someone that lost some hay and the scavengers that emerged to "clean up" the hay.... it reminded me of how we used to put stuff we didn't want at the curb at our old house and within an hour, sometimes minutes, sometimes we didn't even get it all to the curb, someone would swoop in and claim it.
Also a good reminder to not put things near the road you actually WANT ;)
I'm still curious how someone could lose 20 - 30 bales and not notice... not come back... not clean it up... seems weird to me... guess they realized it wasn't worth all that much $$ either!!
So yesterday, I spent the morning with the shop vac, then the dyson vacuum cleaning up the van of all the hay residue and the dog hair that was already there. It cleaned up really nice... in the morning when I took Shawn to work, it looked like a barnyard on wheels... when I picked Shawn up at 5pm, he wondered if I'd traded the van in for a similar, but cleaner, one!
I made another trip to TSC yesterday and bought another black rubber stall mat. Now, with just the front seats in, the whole back of the van is matted in 2 pieces. With Jess gone, we don't really need the other seats in, the van is much more useful to us this way... for carrying fencing, hay... goodness only knows what else!!
Plus the dogs get good traction all around the back, which they like... it also helps protect the van a bit from stuff getting into the carpet and from scratching things up. Being as its in 2 pieces, it wont be too horrible to remove for those few times when more seats are needed. As I said to Shawn, its about as close to a pickup truck as I can get right now... sad but true ;)
Monday, September 17, 2007
Too Many Things... I've Forgotten Most Of Them!!
Whew! What a weekend! Upfront, I'll say I likely forgot some things... we did a bunch of stuff this weekend and apparently my brain is incapable of remembering them all!
We worked on the machine shed some more... we watered the stone dust and its made a nice base now... I drove the lawn tractor back and forth over it to help pack it and its nice and stable and firm... not quite concrete, but a heck of a lot less work and $$ and dang close! :)
We also stapled up some hardware cloth (finer than chicken wire, bigger holes than screening) over the windows. Once the doors are up this will help discourage anyone from moving in. One window has a proper glass window in it and we'll leave that, but the other has only the hardware cloth in it so far, so we'll have to cut a piece of plexi glass to screw over that one to avoid the worst of the winter winds and weather getting into the machine shed while still letting in light.
We also bought most of the supplies to start construction on the doors of the machine shed... the plywood... the pressure treat that's needed to frame around the opening... I still need to pick up paint and get painting it in stages, so all the surfaces are covered. I plan to go into town later and get the paint.
Oh and I lied to my Dad *gasp* on the phone the other day when he asked what colours I was going to paint the outbuildings... ok not LIE exactly... just changed my mind... we were originally going to paint them barn red, barn green and white.... I decided that was boring and that I wanted something a bit different. So now, the parts that are red, will be painted burgundy (for those of you that dont know what colour that is... think red wine ish)... the parts that are currently white, will be painted a cream colour... and some of the parts that are not eyt painted will be navy blue. These colours will eventually go on all the outbuildings (the ones that wont be torn down!) in various combinations. I think it will look nice... maybe nicer than traditional colours... we'll see... at least it'll be DIFFERENT :)
We also bought and laid landscape fabric under the tarped building where I plan to park in the crummy weather... wait we're not going to GET crummy weather HERE, are we??? ha! Shanw cut the grass very short first and then we laid out the fabric and tossed a couple shovels of stone dust on it to hold it down. We'll work on that this week in the evenings... hard work like that helps Shawn forget his day at work and relax a bit more... oh he'll be relaxed this week... perhaps to the point of comatose ;)
We went to TSC in Arnprior this weekend also... bought some step in posts (the short ones with the little spadey part that you step them in with) as Shawn needs some for some of his Halloween display he's planning. They are handy when doing a variety of things, especially when something you're trying to explain to your spouse requires a visual demonstration... sometimes a picture just isn't enough! We had some at our last house, but they got bent all to heck from all the dumb kids walking by the sidewalk, apparently they were great fun to play with at Halloween, with the caution tape on them. Idiots.
Saturday we also went to the Carp farmers market... its a small market and very different from the Waterloo county markets that I'm used to.... but interesting and I'd go back. There are more crafts and stuff like that... less farm fresh produce (although there is some... and the time of year might be affecting that! plus we're in *eastern* Ontario!) There was an absolutely awesome stand there... the girl with the most cake and it was amazingly aweSOME!
We got a small vanilla bean cake that was just beautiful. I took a couple pics and have posted them here! The major drawback is the price... VERY pricey. Have a look around her website though, its really neat... look under "cakes" and "special occasions"... there's a RAT CAKE she made for some guy!! Shawn and I both thought that would make an awesome Halloween cake :)
While back on the Halloween topic.... Shawn and I were experimenting with making more "scary people" this weekend. We have Antoinette, but she was a ton of work and we're looking for an easier, quicker way to make people. We are experimenting using plain wire and so far, so good.... (when Mom was here we looked at a magazine that made people out of chicken wire, but Shawn and I thought that would be a little more than what we wanted to do ... at least this year!) We'll see how it goes... so far, not bad.
I also got to talk to my Mom, my Dad and Jess this weekend... all on the same call!! My parents were kind and generous enough to invite my girl to stay over this weekend and feed her well and take her shopping to pick up some things she needed. Mom and Dad sounded happy to have her and Jess sounded happy to be back in the "warm security of the family" if only for a day or two. And *I* was happy that someone was checking up on her, feeding her and reassuring me that she hasn't dropped 100 lbs since I saw her a couple weeks ago ;)
Its working out o.k. being far from her... but really, its not what either of us signed up for she she applied to university last year on Boxing Day. We both thought I'd only be ONE hour away... and I know I'd be happier about that, than 4.5 - 5 hours!! But apparently things change and life goes on and all that crap... and we're (meaning ME) managing. I will be VERY glad to see my girl again at Thanksgiving though!! VERY glad.
*blink blink blink* change of subject....
For everyone that has been to my house and to this area we live in.... you'll know its kind of a strange little area... strange little people... strange ideas... very small town... very rural, even so close to Kanata and Ottawa... well last night, we had an interesting experience that was rather amusing. Now that I have your attention, you'll have to wait... I have work to do, errands to run and I'll post that story separately later! :)
The ONLY hint I'll give is... I spent the entire morning vacuuming out my mini van! ;)
We worked on the machine shed some more... we watered the stone dust and its made a nice base now... I drove the lawn tractor back and forth over it to help pack it and its nice and stable and firm... not quite concrete, but a heck of a lot less work and $$ and dang close! :)
We also stapled up some hardware cloth (finer than chicken wire, bigger holes than screening) over the windows. Once the doors are up this will help discourage anyone from moving in. One window has a proper glass window in it and we'll leave that, but the other has only the hardware cloth in it so far, so we'll have to cut a piece of plexi glass to screw over that one to avoid the worst of the winter winds and weather getting into the machine shed while still letting in light.
We also bought most of the supplies to start construction on the doors of the machine shed... the plywood... the pressure treat that's needed to frame around the opening... I still need to pick up paint and get painting it in stages, so all the surfaces are covered. I plan to go into town later and get the paint.
Oh and I lied to my Dad *gasp* on the phone the other day when he asked what colours I was going to paint the outbuildings... ok not LIE exactly... just changed my mind... we were originally going to paint them barn red, barn green and white.... I decided that was boring and that I wanted something a bit different. So now, the parts that are red, will be painted burgundy (for those of you that dont know what colour that is... think red wine ish)... the parts that are currently white, will be painted a cream colour... and some of the parts that are not eyt painted will be navy blue. These colours will eventually go on all the outbuildings (the ones that wont be torn down!) in various combinations. I think it will look nice... maybe nicer than traditional colours... we'll see... at least it'll be DIFFERENT :)
We also bought and laid landscape fabric under the tarped building where I plan to park in the crummy weather... wait we're not going to GET crummy weather HERE, are we??? ha! Shanw cut the grass very short first and then we laid out the fabric and tossed a couple shovels of stone dust on it to hold it down. We'll work on that this week in the evenings... hard work like that helps Shawn forget his day at work and relax a bit more... oh he'll be relaxed this week... perhaps to the point of comatose ;)
We went to TSC in Arnprior this weekend also... bought some step in posts (the short ones with the little spadey part that you step them in with) as Shawn needs some for some of his Halloween display he's planning. They are handy when doing a variety of things, especially when something you're trying to explain to your spouse requires a visual demonstration... sometimes a picture just isn't enough! We had some at our last house, but they got bent all to heck from all the dumb kids walking by the sidewalk, apparently they were great fun to play with at Halloween, with the caution tape on them. Idiots.
Saturday we also went to the Carp farmers market... its a small market and very different from the Waterloo county markets that I'm used to.... but interesting and I'd go back. There are more crafts and stuff like that... less farm fresh produce (although there is some... and the time of year might be affecting that! plus we're in *eastern* Ontario!) There was an absolutely awesome stand there... the girl with the most cake and it was amazingly aweSOME!
We got a small vanilla bean cake that was just beautiful. I took a couple pics and have posted them here! The major drawback is the price... VERY pricey. Have a look around her website though, its really neat... look under "cakes" and "special occasions"... there's a RAT CAKE she made for some guy!! Shawn and I both thought that would make an awesome Halloween cake :)
While back on the Halloween topic.... Shawn and I were experimenting with making more "scary people" this weekend. We have Antoinette, but she was a ton of work and we're looking for an easier, quicker way to make people. We are experimenting using plain wire and so far, so good.... (when Mom was here we looked at a magazine that made people out of chicken wire, but Shawn and I thought that would be a little more than what we wanted to do ... at least this year!) We'll see how it goes... so far, not bad.
I also got to talk to my Mom, my Dad and Jess this weekend... all on the same call!! My parents were kind and generous enough to invite my girl to stay over this weekend and feed her well and take her shopping to pick up some things she needed. Mom and Dad sounded happy to have her and Jess sounded happy to be back in the "warm security of the family" if only for a day or two. And *I* was happy that someone was checking up on her, feeding her and reassuring me that she hasn't dropped 100 lbs since I saw her a couple weeks ago ;)
Its working out o.k. being far from her... but really, its not what either of us signed up for she she applied to university last year on Boxing Day. We both thought I'd only be ONE hour away... and I know I'd be happier about that, than 4.5 - 5 hours!! But apparently things change and life goes on and all that crap... and we're (meaning ME) managing. I will be VERY glad to see my girl again at Thanksgiving though!! VERY glad.
*blink blink blink* change of subject....
For everyone that has been to my house and to this area we live in.... you'll know its kind of a strange little area... strange little people... strange ideas... very small town... very rural, even so close to Kanata and Ottawa... well last night, we had an interesting experience that was rather amusing. Now that I have your attention, you'll have to wait... I have work to do, errands to run and I'll post that story separately later! :)
The ONLY hint I'll give is... I spent the entire morning vacuuming out my mini van! ;)
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Pics Are Up
Birthday bench and 2nd Rainbow are new today... In Lisa's photos... link on the left of this page :)
Thanks For Visiting!!
Mom is home now, she left yesterday morning and arrived home safe and sound. We had a really nice visit and I was sad to see her go. We went to a flea market one day... Ikea on Monday... Tuesday we went to an antique store in Stittsville and we ate lots of yummy food!!
Every evening, we all played a couple games of Scrabble... Shawn was particularly ON and won quite a few... Mom and I also managed to win a couple, but not near as many as Shawn, it seems!
Tuesday night we had some rain... then some sunshine and we saw another beautiful rainbow... we never see them except when Mom is here, apparently!! It was actually a full rainbow... plus there was part of a second one. I'm offloading my camera's pics now and I'll have them up in a while.
It was chilly much of the time Mom was here... right before she came, we had all that heat and humidity and even *gasp* a smog day!! But she brought the cooler weather with her... I even had to close the windows!! We didn't turn on the furnace, but it was getting borderline ;) Mom managed to make do by borrowing a sweater/jacket... next time bring your warm clothes... this ain't southern Ontario, ya know!! ;)
Thanks Mom for coming and spending time with me... it was really nice to have someone to chat with, do stuff with and just hang out with again!!
Yesterday, after Mom left, I didn't do much of anything... I talked to Jess on the phone for a while in the afternoon. I think she's finally starting to get a bit home sick.... we discussed Thanksgiving and her feeling right now is that she'd really like to come home to Ottawa that weekend... I'll talk to her more though... we still have a couple weeks to figure it all out.
Last night was the community association meeting at the old town hall. Shawn and I decided it might be entertaining to go... and it was. There were not many people there... mostly board members and just a couple others and us... maybe 15 total? Maybe that's a generous estimation?
It was interesting to hear some of the issues that they are going to get involved in... and the ones they are not. It was entertaining enough that we may attend another one... we'll see. They did have a guest speaker regarding the upcoming election and the referendum that will happen at that time where voters have to decide whether the current electoral system works or whether they want to change to a system recommended by some committee blah blah blah.
The guy that spoke was part of this committee and Shawn and I both really disliked him and the way he SAID he was just going to present the facts, the pros and cons of the new system, but in fact, really delivered his opinion and really tried to avoid expressing the cons of the new proposed system.
I'm still on the fence about whether I'll vote yes or no on the referendum... I have to think more on it... perhaps do a bit more reading. It's remarkably how little that is being advertised and how little education is being provided about it... I dont really understand how it can be legit to ask people to vote on something that they know nothing about... but then again, isn't that what voting is generally about? People (myself included) rarely know THAT much about the different candidates and parties and yet still vote... so maybe that's just how it works, who knows?
Blah... anyhow... going to upload pics!!
Every evening, we all played a couple games of Scrabble... Shawn was particularly ON and won quite a few... Mom and I also managed to win a couple, but not near as many as Shawn, it seems!
Tuesday night we had some rain... then some sunshine and we saw another beautiful rainbow... we never see them except when Mom is here, apparently!! It was actually a full rainbow... plus there was part of a second one. I'm offloading my camera's pics now and I'll have them up in a while.
It was chilly much of the time Mom was here... right before she came, we had all that heat and humidity and even *gasp* a smog day!! But she brought the cooler weather with her... I even had to close the windows!! We didn't turn on the furnace, but it was getting borderline ;) Mom managed to make do by borrowing a sweater/jacket... next time bring your warm clothes... this ain't southern Ontario, ya know!! ;)
Thanks Mom for coming and spending time with me... it was really nice to have someone to chat with, do stuff with and just hang out with again!!
Yesterday, after Mom left, I didn't do much of anything... I talked to Jess on the phone for a while in the afternoon. I think she's finally starting to get a bit home sick.... we discussed Thanksgiving and her feeling right now is that she'd really like to come home to Ottawa that weekend... I'll talk to her more though... we still have a couple weeks to figure it all out.
Last night was the community association meeting at the old town hall. Shawn and I decided it might be entertaining to go... and it was. There were not many people there... mostly board members and just a couple others and us... maybe 15 total? Maybe that's a generous estimation?
It was interesting to hear some of the issues that they are going to get involved in... and the ones they are not. It was entertaining enough that we may attend another one... we'll see. They did have a guest speaker regarding the upcoming election and the referendum that will happen at that time where voters have to decide whether the current electoral system works or whether they want to change to a system recommended by some committee blah blah blah.
The guy that spoke was part of this committee and Shawn and I both really disliked him and the way he SAID he was just going to present the facts, the pros and cons of the new system, but in fact, really delivered his opinion and really tried to avoid expressing the cons of the new proposed system.
I'm still on the fence about whether I'll vote yes or no on the referendum... I have to think more on it... perhaps do a bit more reading. It's remarkably how little that is being advertised and how little education is being provided about it... I dont really understand how it can be legit to ask people to vote on something that they know nothing about... but then again, isn't that what voting is generally about? People (myself included) rarely know THAT much about the different candidates and parties and yet still vote... so maybe that's just how it works, who knows?
Blah... anyhow... going to upload pics!!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Quick Update
As always... we've been busy lately... my Mommy is here visiting and we've been busily doing our best to eat our way around town :)
We've been to Mexicali Rosa's... The Eating Place... Ikea for yummy meatballs... not sure where we'll eat our lunch today...we had bbq'd beef tenderloin steaks the first night.... tonight I'll make chicken (shake & bake) for dinner.... we're certainly not starving to death around here :)
We've been having a lovely visit... doing a few things like touring Ikea... going to the Antrim flea market (where my mom bought me a gorgeous birthday present!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!).. today I think we'll head over to Carp / Stittsville and go to a antique store and browse for a while.
Its been really nice to have the company and catch up a bunch.... I dont think either Mom or I are looking forward to her leaving (tomorrow)... but we'll just have to do it again... and soon! :)
Wonder if Daddy is having a good time fishing and whether he's eating as well as us! Hope you catch some fish!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!!
Anyhow, just wanted to let everyone know we're ok.... and we're having fun :)
We've been to Mexicali Rosa's... The Eating Place... Ikea for yummy meatballs... not sure where we'll eat our lunch today...we had bbq'd beef tenderloin steaks the first night.... tonight I'll make chicken (shake & bake) for dinner.... we're certainly not starving to death around here :)
We've been having a lovely visit... doing a few things like touring Ikea... going to the Antrim flea market (where my mom bought me a gorgeous birthday present!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!).. today I think we'll head over to Carp / Stittsville and go to a antique store and browse for a while.
Its been really nice to have the company and catch up a bunch.... I dont think either Mom or I are looking forward to her leaving (tomorrow)... but we'll just have to do it again... and soon! :)
Wonder if Daddy is having a good time fishing and whether he's eating as well as us! Hope you catch some fish!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!!
Anyhow, just wanted to let everyone know we're ok.... and we're having fun :)
Thursday, September 6, 2007
This & That
We've been trying to work away at "stuff" around here... last night Shawn finished hauling the stone dust for the machine shed. I spread and tamped it. We didn't even use half the pile on that job, so there will be plenty for the footing of the tarped building, my winter parking spot!
The machine shed looks much nicer and is much less scary now... some more weed whacking and tree trimming will help immensely... as well as tearing off more ugly siding :)
It didn't take us long to finish the stone dust in the machine shed last night... I thought we were about half way, but we were quite a bit farther than that... like 3/4 of the way... so it only took us like 20 minutes. Shawn and I looked at each other, kinda disappointed, as we thought we had a full night's work.
After about 2 seconds, I came up with some other things to do :) We came inside and started to sort through Shawn's CD collection. He had the cds in sleeves in binders and the empty cases in a box... we put as many of them together as possible. We're missing a few cds, missing a few boxes, but have quite a stack that are put together. Shawn's going to go through, pick the ones he wants, then we're gonna try to sell the rest at the used cd store. Hopefully we'll end up with enough to buy a fence post or two ;)
Back to the machine shed for a minute... I've decided I'm going to water it after all... it makes it so much nicer and firmer.... we own 100 feet of hose... but I figured it would be a bit too short... so we got out long 100' tape measure and measured it off... you know, to see how much more hose I'd need to buy.
Well... I was right, it was short... by about half!! I need another 100' of hose, apparently to reach that building. It doesn't look 200 feet away, but according to the measuring tape, it is! So I'll have to pick up some hose before I can water it... and then pray that our sad water pressure can trickle the water out that far. Its rather comical, when we connect the 100', we turn on the water... and wait... and wait... and wait some more.... just when you think there MUST be something blocking the hose and you start to consider peeking in the end of the hose, out comes a trickle!!
Then, before the machinery can be moved over, we have to build and install doors for this shed. I think we'll just use plywood and maybe some 1x3's (only because we can a whole bundle of them!) I believe we already have large hinges from the garage doors we made at Clyde road. I imagine these will be similar.
Yesterday I finally got all my guest bedding washed and Jessica's room bedding... its all clean and folded and ready to be put on beds as needed. I think I'll be putting on the guest sheets soon, as I think my mom is coming to stay with us next week! Yay :) Company :)
I also vacuumed the upstairs yesterday... the carpet might be ugly, but it sure gets all squishy and nice under foot after vacuuming. Not that I'm reconsidering ripping it out... that's still gonna happen ... just not sure WHEN, of course :)
Today, I busied myself tidying up our bedroom and making the desk area work up there.... so now I have a place to do paperwork and such. It looks way nicer now... much less junky, even though there are still some unpacked boxes, at least they are tidier. I also got my shredder hooked up, so now I can shred to my hearts content ;) Yes, clearly I need to get out more!
I'll be happier with the bedroom when we finally get around to chopping up that hot tub and disposing of it... that'll be another 8x8 feet of space that can be used! :)
Slowly but surely, things are getting organized... it takes lots of time... and just time living here to figure out what works and what doesn't. I'm finally happy with the living room layout... it now *works*. Funny how its a long process.
I went to the chiro on Tuesday and got adjusted... my shoulder/collarbone was not where it belonged, so the treatment was more owie than other times. Putting it back where it belongs does not seem to be something he can do... he doesn't even really try to do it... but he does seem to be able to loosen things up enough that I can force it back in after a couple hours, so that's something.
This afternoon, I'm going back for another massage... I'm sure that will also help some... most of the symptoms stem from muscle tension... I know hard to believe! :) ha!
I talked to Jess yesterday and the day before... her land line is now hooked up and working... her internet is sporadic... hopefully that is temporary. She seems to be doing ok... doesn't seem to miss us very much (who could blame her??) and seems to be settling in rather well.
Because I'm the mother, I am concerned that she's eating enough and all that stuff... but every once in a while it does occur to me that thousands of kids go off to university and rarely do you hear about any starving to death! ;)
From what I've heard, she seems to be making all her own food... I don't think she's eaten at the cafeteria yet! I think juice, milk, cheerios, chili & chips and bread is what she's existing on... maybe other stuff, but those are the things I've heard about.
Its warm today... the humidity is moving right in... I've got the windows shut and the big fan on at the bottom of the stairs blowing up and its only 67 F at noon... almost a bit chilly, but honestly, I'm NOT complaining, it just sounds that way!! With the humidity, its supposed to feel like 35 C (100 F ish?)... depending on how quickly it warms up in here, I may have to turn on the AC... .we'll see.
Time to do a few more things before I leave for my massage!
The machine shed looks much nicer and is much less scary now... some more weed whacking and tree trimming will help immensely... as well as tearing off more ugly siding :)
It didn't take us long to finish the stone dust in the machine shed last night... I thought we were about half way, but we were quite a bit farther than that... like 3/4 of the way... so it only took us like 20 minutes. Shawn and I looked at each other, kinda disappointed, as we thought we had a full night's work.
After about 2 seconds, I came up with some other things to do :) We came inside and started to sort through Shawn's CD collection. He had the cds in sleeves in binders and the empty cases in a box... we put as many of them together as possible. We're missing a few cds, missing a few boxes, but have quite a stack that are put together. Shawn's going to go through, pick the ones he wants, then we're gonna try to sell the rest at the used cd store. Hopefully we'll end up with enough to buy a fence post or two ;)
Back to the machine shed for a minute... I've decided I'm going to water it after all... it makes it so much nicer and firmer.... we own 100 feet of hose... but I figured it would be a bit too short... so we got out long 100' tape measure and measured it off... you know, to see how much more hose I'd need to buy.
Well... I was right, it was short... by about half!! I need another 100' of hose, apparently to reach that building. It doesn't look 200 feet away, but according to the measuring tape, it is! So I'll have to pick up some hose before I can water it... and then pray that our sad water pressure can trickle the water out that far. Its rather comical, when we connect the 100', we turn on the water... and wait... and wait... and wait some more.... just when you think there MUST be something blocking the hose and you start to consider peeking in the end of the hose, out comes a trickle!!
Then, before the machinery can be moved over, we have to build and install doors for this shed. I think we'll just use plywood and maybe some 1x3's (only because we can a whole bundle of them!) I believe we already have large hinges from the garage doors we made at Clyde road. I imagine these will be similar.
Yesterday I finally got all my guest bedding washed and Jessica's room bedding... its all clean and folded and ready to be put on beds as needed. I think I'll be putting on the guest sheets soon, as I think my mom is coming to stay with us next week! Yay :) Company :)
I also vacuumed the upstairs yesterday... the carpet might be ugly, but it sure gets all squishy and nice under foot after vacuuming. Not that I'm reconsidering ripping it out... that's still gonna happen ... just not sure WHEN, of course :)
Today, I busied myself tidying up our bedroom and making the desk area work up there.... so now I have a place to do paperwork and such. It looks way nicer now... much less junky, even though there are still some unpacked boxes, at least they are tidier. I also got my shredder hooked up, so now I can shred to my hearts content ;) Yes, clearly I need to get out more!
I'll be happier with the bedroom when we finally get around to chopping up that hot tub and disposing of it... that'll be another 8x8 feet of space that can be used! :)
Slowly but surely, things are getting organized... it takes lots of time... and just time living here to figure out what works and what doesn't. I'm finally happy with the living room layout... it now *works*. Funny how its a long process.
I went to the chiro on Tuesday and got adjusted... my shoulder/collarbone was not where it belonged, so the treatment was more owie than other times. Putting it back where it belongs does not seem to be something he can do... he doesn't even really try to do it... but he does seem to be able to loosen things up enough that I can force it back in after a couple hours, so that's something.
This afternoon, I'm going back for another massage... I'm sure that will also help some... most of the symptoms stem from muscle tension... I know hard to believe! :) ha!
I talked to Jess yesterday and the day before... her land line is now hooked up and working... her internet is sporadic... hopefully that is temporary. She seems to be doing ok... doesn't seem to miss us very much (who could blame her??) and seems to be settling in rather well.
Because I'm the mother, I am concerned that she's eating enough and all that stuff... but every once in a while it does occur to me that thousands of kids go off to university and rarely do you hear about any starving to death! ;)
From what I've heard, she seems to be making all her own food... I don't think she's eaten at the cafeteria yet! I think juice, milk, cheerios, chili & chips and bread is what she's existing on... maybe other stuff, but those are the things I've heard about.
Its warm today... the humidity is moving right in... I've got the windows shut and the big fan on at the bottom of the stairs blowing up and its only 67 F at noon... almost a bit chilly, but honestly, I'm NOT complaining, it just sounds that way!! With the humidity, its supposed to feel like 35 C (100 F ish?)... depending on how quickly it warms up in here, I may have to turn on the AC... .we'll see.
Time to do a few more things before I leave for my massage!
Monday, September 3, 2007
New Pictures Galore!
I *finally* got around to offloading my camera: there were 93 pictures, many of which I've put up online:
In the Four Horse Haven album, I put:
Hope you find them interesting!
In the Four Horse Haven album, I put:
- pictures of our new fencing
- pictures of the (now empty) storage unit, the day we closed it out
- lots of pictures of the flooding we had a few weeks ago
- lots more pictures of the dead tree coming down (including an awesome shot of the tree actually *falling*
- a few pictures in 'around the house' of random stuff, the giant tenderloin we just ate, a picture of the huge stack of books we just got rid of, etc.
- A few more 'Pretty View' pictures
- Some new 'Pretty Flowers Plants and Gardens' pictures: mostly of some of the huge thistles we've got around here
Hope you find them interesting!
An Important Detail
that I forgot to mention in the previous post... last night's dinner... I roasted the whole beef tenderloin that my parents had brought on their last visit.... I cooked it from frozen... for just over an hour... and it was PERFECT! It ranged from rare to medium, depending on the thickness at any given point.... we ate a bunch for dinner with baked potatoes... then we had a sandwich before bed... cold beef tenderloin on buttered multigrain bread... sooooo yummy :)
I have enough for tonight's supper... and for a lunch or two for Shawn... plus, another bag of it sliced that I put in the freezer for another day!!
Thanks Mom and Dad for bringing that... it was a great deal (whole tenderloin for $28!!) AND it was so tender, juicy and flavourful.... we thought we died and went to heaven!!
I have enough for tonight's supper... and for a lunch or two for Shawn... plus, another bag of it sliced that I put in the freezer for another day!!
Thanks Mom and Dad for bringing that... it was a great deal (whole tenderloin for $28!!) AND it was so tender, juicy and flavourful.... we thought we died and went to heaven!!
A Heck of a Deal!
I like to look at stuff for sale on kijiji... there's often good stuff. www.kijiji.ca (then choose your city)
I looked there last night and there was a post under Home & Garden for 11 rolls of woven wire fence... asking $110. So I get Shawn to call about it and yeah its still available... the guy doesn't seem to know much about it... he thinks its 4 feet tall and each roll is 50 feet. So we arrange to go there after supper last night to see it.
Its about 35 - 40 minutes away in Manotick... we drive there... and we go in a long laneway, no house or anything visible. At the end of the lane, a house is suddenly visible... Pretty house... probably 100+ years old... it has an attached garage and attached to that is a very old WOODEN silo... beautiful! Across the yard and around the corner is a very old beautiful bank barn, with very fancy arched doors on the front.
We ring the doorbell and finally the guy comes out... he's a short, tiny, very spry man, probably 55 - 65 years old and he takes off to the barn... neither Shawn or I can keep up to him! We go in the bottom of the barn and then up the stairs and he shows us the fencing... its woven page wire, as he said and there's 11 rolls of it.
I back the mini van up to the door and we start trying to load these rolls of wire... They are friggen HEAVY... I can't lift one alone... Shawn can barely... and together, they are still tricky. It becomes clear early on that not all 11 rolls will fit in the van... my goal is to get half... with much work, we got 6 rolls in last night. I ask if he'd mind if we come back this morning to get the other half... yes, that's ok with him.
I ask if he wants full payment up front... no just for the ones we're taking... so I give him $60 and off we go... the back door of the van bungeed shut.... the 4 way flashers on all the way up highway 416, 417, March road, Dunrobin road... its pretty dark when we leave his place and very dark when we get home... we decide to unload so we turn on all the yard lights and its not too bad.
We left the 6 rolls just laying on the ground... we were exhausted, sore and beat up from carrying the fencing.
This morning we went back and loaded the last 5 rolls... gave him another $50 and off we went. Was much easier in the light, for sure!! We got home and unloaded the 5 rolls... now I have 11 rolls laying in the yard... only paid $110!! Its brand new, had been stored inside... awesome :)
Its still unclear how long each roll is... the guy said 50 feet, but wasnt sure... some of the rolls still had tags on that said they were 20 rod... when you look up 20 rod, it says that 20 rod = 330 feet... I'm suspicious that its not 330 feet per roll... but even at 50 feet per roll we got a very good deal. (I had looked up prices at TSC online before we went.)
We at least have 550 feet of fencing.... maybe dramatically more if the rolls are actually 20 rod.
I think its also not 4 feet tall.... but slightly taller... my guess is 4.5 feet tall, but I'll have to measure.
We thought we got a great deal... he seemed happy it was going away.... they have sold the place and are moving out. They have more fencing for sale... that's installed and needs to be disassembled, but he wants $1200 - $1500 for that, plus you have to remove it... and that just seems unreasonably high and a crap load of work!!
Although, I half expect he'll come down in price on that too... he originally was advertising this 11 rolls of fencing ... his original price was $500 and then he dropped it to $110. So you never know :)
Now we just have to finish the stone dust in the machine shed, build doors, get the machinery moved over... then the fencing can get put in the white building to keep it out of the weather until we're ready to start putting some up.
We also need to finalize our plan of where the fencing should go... there's some ongoing debate about that ;)
I looked there last night and there was a post under Home & Garden for 11 rolls of woven wire fence... asking $110. So I get Shawn to call about it and yeah its still available... the guy doesn't seem to know much about it... he thinks its 4 feet tall and each roll is 50 feet. So we arrange to go there after supper last night to see it.
Its about 35 - 40 minutes away in Manotick... we drive there... and we go in a long laneway, no house or anything visible. At the end of the lane, a house is suddenly visible... Pretty house... probably 100+ years old... it has an attached garage and attached to that is a very old WOODEN silo... beautiful! Across the yard and around the corner is a very old beautiful bank barn, with very fancy arched doors on the front.
We ring the doorbell and finally the guy comes out... he's a short, tiny, very spry man, probably 55 - 65 years old and he takes off to the barn... neither Shawn or I can keep up to him! We go in the bottom of the barn and then up the stairs and he shows us the fencing... its woven page wire, as he said and there's 11 rolls of it.
I back the mini van up to the door and we start trying to load these rolls of wire... They are friggen HEAVY... I can't lift one alone... Shawn can barely... and together, they are still tricky. It becomes clear early on that not all 11 rolls will fit in the van... my goal is to get half... with much work, we got 6 rolls in last night. I ask if he'd mind if we come back this morning to get the other half... yes, that's ok with him.
I ask if he wants full payment up front... no just for the ones we're taking... so I give him $60 and off we go... the back door of the van bungeed shut.... the 4 way flashers on all the way up highway 416, 417, March road, Dunrobin road... its pretty dark when we leave his place and very dark when we get home... we decide to unload so we turn on all the yard lights and its not too bad.
We left the 6 rolls just laying on the ground... we were exhausted, sore and beat up from carrying the fencing.
This morning we went back and loaded the last 5 rolls... gave him another $50 and off we went. Was much easier in the light, for sure!! We got home and unloaded the 5 rolls... now I have 11 rolls laying in the yard... only paid $110!! Its brand new, had been stored inside... awesome :)
Its still unclear how long each roll is... the guy said 50 feet, but wasnt sure... some of the rolls still had tags on that said they were 20 rod... when you look up 20 rod, it says that 20 rod = 330 feet... I'm suspicious that its not 330 feet per roll... but even at 50 feet per roll we got a very good deal. (I had looked up prices at TSC online before we went.)
We at least have 550 feet of fencing.... maybe dramatically more if the rolls are actually 20 rod.
I think its also not 4 feet tall.... but slightly taller... my guess is 4.5 feet tall, but I'll have to measure.
We thought we got a great deal... he seemed happy it was going away.... they have sold the place and are moving out. They have more fencing for sale... that's installed and needs to be disassembled, but he wants $1200 - $1500 for that, plus you have to remove it... and that just seems unreasonably high and a crap load of work!!
Although, I half expect he'll come down in price on that too... he originally was advertising this 11 rolls of fencing ... his original price was $500 and then he dropped it to $110. So you never know :)
Now we just have to finish the stone dust in the machine shed, build doors, get the machinery moved over... then the fencing can get put in the white building to keep it out of the weather until we're ready to start putting some up.
We also need to finalize our plan of where the fencing should go... there's some ongoing debate about that ;)
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Only Took TWO Months....
Happy September and Labour Day Weekend!
As I usually say at the beginning of a post... sorry for being quiet for a few days, I've been *busy*. I really should come up with some better excuse or just post more frequently :)
Anyhow, today, its 2 months (to the day!) since we moved here, we are officially all moved in! Its the friggen move "that never ends.. it just goes on and on my friend... some people started moving, not knowing what they were doing and they continued moving forever just because..."
Sorry, got side tracked by that song!! Today we emptied out the storage unit. We've been slowly working at it, a load at a time here and there... and today was the LAST load!! This is extremely exciting in our world... all our possessions are now under ONE roof (ok, several roofs if you count the stuff in the outbuildings...)
We spent the day unpacking and reorganizing and going through possessions AGAIN... we went through the books again... we started with 16 boxes and got them down to 11 boxes! We'll be making a trip to Value Village tomorrow to drop them off... and of course look at their awesome Halloween stuff while we're there :)
We also hung up the Halloween costumes in the guest room closet... there's still some room for guest clothes if needed... but emptying out those 4 or 5 boxes, really helped make room for other stuff on the shelves!!
We also started taking over Jessica's room a bit today... oops... probably shouldn't mention THAT!! haha... Just a tiny bit of stuff got moved in there... just some Halloween stuff into the one closet that was practically empty. Oh and the Christmas tree is hanging out in there in its box currently as well...don't panic Jess... there's still tons of room for you and your stuff :) We just temporarily needed some space while we get organized.
We also brought down the TV from upstairs finally (the old TV that I've had for *years*... I want to say it was purchased in 93?) Its small, but still works... or at least did work for Shawn when he was in his nasty basement. Its not hooked up yet or even plugged in... maybe later or tomorrow! We're starting to run out of steam now!!
It was a decent eating day... late breakfast of cheese croissant with melted cheese, bacon and egg on it.... for lunch we picked up some stuff at Farm Boy, Shawn got sushi and I got those veggie rolls in rice paper wrap things. We also bought gelato (kinda like ice cream or sherbet) at Farm Boy that was being sold with proceeds going to CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario). We each had a scoop of strawberry gelato on a sugar cone... tasty enough.
For supper I boiled some tiny potatoes that I got at the veggie stand down the street (you know, the one with the distinct name!) and bbq'd rib eye steaks from Farm Boy and also a delicious pre made salad from Farm Boy that had romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, peppers and grilled and chilled asparagus on top. Was quite yummy.
I briefly heard from Jess today... her and Kyle were trying to figure out how to offload her pictures from her camera phone to her computer and were not having much luck.... I didn't hear back so I dont know if it worked or not.
It was great that Kyle went down this weekend, they went to plug in the new phone to the wall to get it ready for the phone service on Tuesday and found there was no jack... just some wires hanging out of the wall!! So they went and bought the little jack boxy thing and Kyle installed it for her! Thanks Kyle! You rock!! :) That sure would've sucked on Tuesday when there should be phone service and suddenly there was no phone jack!!!
In spite of us doing mostly inside stuff today, it was a gorgeous day outside... one might even say a PERFECT day! Probably should've done outside stuff... but I'm so happy that we're done with the storage unit and I wont have to pay for it each month!! Nice to have the stuff home, but nicer to not have that bill!! :)
The thing that's been kinda screwing up my available time and energy this week is at the beginning of the week my shoulder/collar bone/ neck was **really** sore. And I'm positive it wasn't stress related or anything... uh huh. Anyhow, I decided early in the week that I HAD to do something about it... it was intolerable.
I went on a search to find an available massage therapist in the area... it took many phone calls, but I finally found one that had an appointment for later that day. Its in Kanata, but kinda the other end of Kanata, it takes 20 - 30 minutes to get there from home. I got a great massage that provided quite a bit of relief. In the same clinic was a chiropractor that the massage therapist highly recommended. So when my massage was over, I asked the receptionist if the chiro was available to see me that day.
He wasn't actually in at that time, but she called him at home and he came into the office early just to accommodate me! He did a thorough history and did a treatment. He's no Dr. Edwards and he does mostly manual adjustments and active release therapy, but he was gentle and didn't seem like a dink like that other chiro that Jess saw a few weeks ago.
After that first treatment, right after the massage, I felt pretty damn good... better than I had in weeks!! I went back again yesterday for another chiro treatment and again it worked out well. I'm going again on Tuesday... and I'll try to book another massage for later in the week. I have to get some of the muscle tension under control, the headaches and related pains drive me nuts!!
This chiro doesn't hold much hope for fixing my separated shoulder... he figures the only "cure" is surgery and that's a pretty strong statement from a chiro. That doesn't surprise me, of course, but I'll delay it as long as possible... I'm in no hurry for them to muck about in my shoulder joint!!
At least now, with the muscles more relaxed, when my collarbone goes "out", I can usually coax it back in within a short amount of time. When its knotted up solid like concrete, its really tough to get it back in... though it seems just as easy for it to come out, somehow!
Now I'm starting to think SNACK time... I'm sure if I even whisper that, Shawn will agree its time to eat again! :) That's it for now....
As I usually say at the beginning of a post... sorry for being quiet for a few days, I've been *busy*. I really should come up with some better excuse or just post more frequently :)
Anyhow, today, its 2 months (to the day!) since we moved here, we are officially all moved in! Its the friggen move "that never ends.. it just goes on and on my friend... some people started moving, not knowing what they were doing and they continued moving forever just because..."
Sorry, got side tracked by that song!! Today we emptied out the storage unit. We've been slowly working at it, a load at a time here and there... and today was the LAST load!! This is extremely exciting in our world... all our possessions are now under ONE roof (ok, several roofs if you count the stuff in the outbuildings...)
We spent the day unpacking and reorganizing and going through possessions AGAIN... we went through the books again... we started with 16 boxes and got them down to 11 boxes! We'll be making a trip to Value Village tomorrow to drop them off... and of course look at their awesome Halloween stuff while we're there :)
We also hung up the Halloween costumes in the guest room closet... there's still some room for guest clothes if needed... but emptying out those 4 or 5 boxes, really helped make room for other stuff on the shelves!!
We also started taking over Jessica's room a bit today... oops... probably shouldn't mention THAT!! haha... Just a tiny bit of stuff got moved in there... just some Halloween stuff into the one closet that was practically empty. Oh and the Christmas tree is hanging out in there in its box currently as well...don't panic Jess... there's still tons of room for you and your stuff :) We just temporarily needed some space while we get organized.
We also brought down the TV from upstairs finally (the old TV that I've had for *years*... I want to say it was purchased in 93?) Its small, but still works... or at least did work for Shawn when he was in his nasty basement. Its not hooked up yet or even plugged in... maybe later or tomorrow! We're starting to run out of steam now!!
It was a decent eating day... late breakfast of cheese croissant with melted cheese, bacon and egg on it.... for lunch we picked up some stuff at Farm Boy, Shawn got sushi and I got those veggie rolls in rice paper wrap things. We also bought gelato (kinda like ice cream or sherbet) at Farm Boy that was being sold with proceeds going to CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario). We each had a scoop of strawberry gelato on a sugar cone... tasty enough.
For supper I boiled some tiny potatoes that I got at the veggie stand down the street (you know, the one with the distinct name!) and bbq'd rib eye steaks from Farm Boy and also a delicious pre made salad from Farm Boy that had romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, peppers and grilled and chilled asparagus on top. Was quite yummy.
I briefly heard from Jess today... her and Kyle were trying to figure out how to offload her pictures from her camera phone to her computer and were not having much luck.... I didn't hear back so I dont know if it worked or not.
It was great that Kyle went down this weekend, they went to plug in the new phone to the wall to get it ready for the phone service on Tuesday and found there was no jack... just some wires hanging out of the wall!! So they went and bought the little jack boxy thing and Kyle installed it for her! Thanks Kyle! You rock!! :) That sure would've sucked on Tuesday when there should be phone service and suddenly there was no phone jack!!!
In spite of us doing mostly inside stuff today, it was a gorgeous day outside... one might even say a PERFECT day! Probably should've done outside stuff... but I'm so happy that we're done with the storage unit and I wont have to pay for it each month!! Nice to have the stuff home, but nicer to not have that bill!! :)
The thing that's been kinda screwing up my available time and energy this week is at the beginning of the week my shoulder/collar bone/ neck was **really** sore. And I'm positive it wasn't stress related or anything... uh huh. Anyhow, I decided early in the week that I HAD to do something about it... it was intolerable.
I went on a search to find an available massage therapist in the area... it took many phone calls, but I finally found one that had an appointment for later that day. Its in Kanata, but kinda the other end of Kanata, it takes 20 - 30 minutes to get there from home. I got a great massage that provided quite a bit of relief. In the same clinic was a chiropractor that the massage therapist highly recommended. So when my massage was over, I asked the receptionist if the chiro was available to see me that day.
He wasn't actually in at that time, but she called him at home and he came into the office early just to accommodate me! He did a thorough history and did a treatment. He's no Dr. Edwards and he does mostly manual adjustments and active release therapy, but he was gentle and didn't seem like a dink like that other chiro that Jess saw a few weeks ago.
After that first treatment, right after the massage, I felt pretty damn good... better than I had in weeks!! I went back again yesterday for another chiro treatment and again it worked out well. I'm going again on Tuesday... and I'll try to book another massage for later in the week. I have to get some of the muscle tension under control, the headaches and related pains drive me nuts!!
This chiro doesn't hold much hope for fixing my separated shoulder... he figures the only "cure" is surgery and that's a pretty strong statement from a chiro. That doesn't surprise me, of course, but I'll delay it as long as possible... I'm in no hurry for them to muck about in my shoulder joint!!
At least now, with the muscles more relaxed, when my collarbone goes "out", I can usually coax it back in within a short amount of time. When its knotted up solid like concrete, its really tough to get it back in... though it seems just as easy for it to come out, somehow!
Now I'm starting to think SNACK time... I'm sure if I even whisper that, Shawn will agree its time to eat again! :) That's it for now....
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