the Adventures of the Wood Stove: Part 2

We found Lleulu inside of the wood stove after we had set it up. We tried to catch a photo of her in there, but this is all that we got.

I can read her expession, "What?" She had no idea she was going camo.

"Me?"

" I would never crawl into a wood stove."

"Really, I promise."

She was so guilty. The pictures don't do it justice. She obviously had black markings on her very white fur. She had no idea. We kept cracking up every time we looked at her. Silly Kitty!!!

The Adventures of the Wood Stove: Part 1

We chose to put in a wood stove this winter. We love it now, but it was a process!!! Here we go. Follow along!

Step one: Choose where the wood should be located. Rearrange the living room five times. Begin process.

Step 2: Cut a hole in the ceiling. Wait, not there. There. That is where the hole should go.

Step 3: Blue sky, smiling at me.... nothing but blue skies do I see. It was a bit chilly for an open skylight!!

Step 4: Smile at your man who is up on the roof on a frigid day, working to make your house warm. It is especially fun to do through the hole in the ceiling.

Step 5: Insert the beginnings of the stove pipe. Woohoo! One step closer to having a wood stove in the house.

Part two coming soon.......

High Stepping Lydia

Apparently, our chickens don't like to walk in the snow! Atta Girl actually tried to fly across the snow to the patio. Silly girl! I only caught Lydia high stepping. She cracked us up!

More Snow Photos

The view from our front door....

Looking down our street....

Our snow man and snow kitty! He went on a diet today and is almost gone.. We'll see you later Frosty!

Chickens in the Snow

The girls did not know what to think of the snow!!

Here's Pickle surveying the scene, while looking quite lovely.

Daisy found something good in the thawing ground!

Atta Girl and Lydia acted like they were stranded. It was really entertaining. They cracked us up as we watched them trying to figure out what to do. Silly chickens!!

A Few Pictures of the Snow

Here's the backyard coop in the morning sunshine.

A night time photo. Everything was covered so thickly!!

A street view of our house.

A little viola face before she got completely covered in snow. The snow was so lovely. I love how it makes the world quiet and peaceful. More photos to come...

I Heart Blogging

I know I have been a bit slack on the blogging front. I love blogging. I love to read my friends blogs. It keeps me connected to them. Even though we don't see each other except for every now and then, it seems as if we sit down regularly and catch up.

Maybe this isn't a good thing. It keeps me from making a greater effort to get out and to see my friends because I feel caught up on their lives. That is something that I have been working on this year. I have visited with good friends at least one evening a week this year. I have really enjoyed it. This week I have a couple of days off of work. I hope to be able to catch up with some more friends during this time face to face.

For those of you far away from here blogging is a great thing! We can keep up with each other pretty easily. And for you all I hope to take some time to blog these next few days. I have tons of pictures to go through and post, catch you up on the chickens, the wood stove, Lleulu, snow times and life. Don't worry. We'll be caught up with each other soon.

Until the next post, Happy Valentines Day! And, I do heart my husband more than blogging! I love you Dave. Thanks for giving me time to blog and encouraging me to do so.

And Then There Were Six

We lost another chicken last night. Apparently Pookie went to bed outside of the coop. When Dave went out to tuck them in (read-shut the coop door), he couldn't find Pookie. After returning with a head lamp he found her. I don't know what likes to eat chickens around here. The last chicken that got eaten was almost completely devoured. This time not so much. Maybe Dave scared the predator from it's prey. Who knows! I am thinking that is was a possum, raccoon or a weasel. I hope that it had a good meal and doesn't return.

Poor Pookie. She had always not quite belonged. After a brief hawk attack a couple of weeks ago in which a few tail feathers were lost, I thought that she was sticking closer to the gang. I guess not. We'll miss you Pookie! The girls already do. I awoke to them calling and cackling together this morning. It sounded like they were having church, but in a testifying chicken sort of a way.

It is never easy to lose a chicken, but somehow the pain is a bit less with each one that passes. I can't beat myself up with "what ifs". Surprisingly there are many. They are chickens. They live in nature. We don't want to keep them cooped up all of the time. That is the point of free range! This might be the price that we pay every now and then. We won't stop keeping chickens. We love them too much. Their eggs are delicious and their ways relaxing. To watch them peck and scratch is a lot of fun. When they fight to eat out my hand, I am always awed.

Rest in peace Pookie. We'll see you where the grass is always greener.

One of My Favorite Days

Groundhog day is one of my favorite days of the year. Not so much for the superstitions, but because of my L-O-V-E for the movie Groundhog Day. I simply love Bill Murray in this movie and it is one of the few movies that I can watch over and over again. Every time I watch it I catch something new, too. And every time I watch it I crack up.

This movie also holds special meaning because Dave and I watched it on our honeymoon, all of those moons ago. We still watch it at least once a year. I decided this year that Groundhog Day should be a special day in our house. Why not make it our own personal Valentines day? Valentines is overrated anyway and has become pizza night in our house. I need to plan better for this..... but for this year's Groundhog Day I bought Dave a card and a donut ~ in remembrance of the scene when Bill Murray has a table full of food in front of him at the diner. I crack up every time!!

I also like celebrating Groundhog Day as our own, even if it is more after the movie than Punxsutawney Phil. I hope that every year of our marriage brings days that I want to live over and over again with my husband, and in doing so, that the memories become sweeter and sweeter. I love you Dave!! I'm so glad I've got you, Babe.

Sorry Punxsutawney Phil.