Grumpy and not so grumpy

Last week we had our first snow since moving to Washington.

So, needless to say, I was walking in a lot of this on the way to and from the barn. If only it stayed at this nice depth the whole time.

Toni llama is not very fond of the snow it seems.

In fact, both Toni and Dolly have been quite grumpy since the snow began. Dolly has no trouble communicating. Right this minute Im hearing her scold Toni (yet again) for her eating technique. Which really just means, stay outta my bucket.

There have been lots of frozen water buckets to tend to.

And of course, when its really cold, you can see your breath.

Grumpy llamas aside....G is very happy to see the snow.

I think last week J and G had zero days of school due to the snow and Thanksgiving break. They werent concerned.

First order of business? Test the packing ability of the snow.

J says its too dry for snowballs.

G, always the one to try and prove his big brother wrong....thinks the snow is just fine. See, he says.

How could J walk away from that?

After the snow"ball" fight...it was decided to move onto bigger and better things.

For some reason, the sleds didnt make it on the move here...or, they just havent been found yet...Im not certain. I need to look in the barn attic. But in the interim, J tends to be quite resourceful.

A wading pool seems like a great alternative. Run...

Jump in... GO! Yeah, not so much.

Maybe if he turns backwards.

Him and G try to figure this out.

And with lack of a better idea...G decides just to push him down the hill.

A few trips down the hill later...hot cocoa is in order.

Coop update

As you can see, we are really making some great progress on the coop.


Kidding.

We (meaning my husband and some occasional helpers) are actually making exceptional progress.

J has really been enjoying learning how to build things.

This was a week or so ago. This will be the front of the coop.

Right side facing the barn.


Left side where the little pop out door will be.

Front after all the siding and roof is on. And an opening for a door. :-)

Left side again which will contain the pop out door. The roof is visible in this picture, too.

Meet a couple of said helpers. Kip really wants to know whats going on.

Him and Niko go in to check things out.


Just a little itch.

I think Niko really feels that if he asks me just right and looks at me just so...that maybe I will let him and the boys have this new little house.

I told him I didnt think so and Im not sure, but he may be throwing a fit right here...

But soon Kip came over to talk things over with him. And even tho Niko still looked a little distraught over this...

They felt a much better plan was to head out and see what S had in his little basket.

Theres still more work that needs to be done on the coop. There are corner pieces to be put on and windows to be installed, among other odds and ins. But it has really come together quickly and since the majority of the structure is put together, some of the smaller, last minute things can wait if they need to.

Especially since we woke up to this.


4 inches of it.

Our first snow in Washington.

Wow! Wind!

So do you remember all those leaves that had fallen on the ground around here?

Well, since then we had a HUGE windstorm. And this is what that same spot looks like now.

There are tree branches scattered all over the pasture. Who would have known that the first time I have access to unlimited kindling...I dont have a wood burning fireplace.

I have to say tho, the leaves on those tree branches are making the goat boys really happy.

When I walked from the pasture into the llama stall, tho...I was not the least bit happy.

We dont actually use the llama stall that often as the llama ladies normally stay out in the pasture all night. They like it out there. Under the stars.

And thankfully this evening wasnt any different.

Because this is what I came upon when I went into their stall.

This is some miscellaneous building materials that the previous homeowner had left behind. It used to be wedged in between the barn wall and a big, huge cabinet. But the cabinet has since been removed and disposed of. The building materials on the other hand had not yet made it out of the stall.

One of the items in there was some sort of storm window.

Upon falling, it broke and shattered into a million pieces.

It was a huge mess to clean up. And let me tell you...those doors were heavy!

But it was hard to stay upset about that big mess when I see tumbleweeds the size of small trees blowing around in my yard.

This one managed to nestle up right next to one of my pear trees.

You gotta love the desert.

Life got a little hectic

Yeah. I know. Ive been on a blogging hiatus. Heres to hoping that I can get back in the swing of things.

My laptop took a turn for the worse a few weeks ago.


I am now on a brand new, straight from the box one.

Fall seemed to happen out of nowhere around here.

And Im quite certain that it will keep moving forward and soon all the rest of those leaves will wind up happily placed next to the others on the ground.

If you can believe it tho...I still have beautiful roses in bloom.

And the ones that arent blooming have left behind these lovely orange pods. They are so pretty to look at on my way out to the pasture.

We have started a new project on the farm. Do you have any guesses on what it might be?

It will be built right there.

And not only does the middle guy get to help...

But the goats feel the need to put in their opinion.

Which, of course, means that the little guy cant be out done. So he makes his way out there, too.

And, so far, Ive not been too much help on the outdoor project. Gasp!! Along with the everyday tasks here on the farm, and the kids, and well, just life....

I think these apples have been setting on the porch for quite some time now just waiting to be used up.

Have you figured out what it is yet? Here, let me give you a hint. It has two words.

And the first one starts with a C. And ends with "hicken".

So, yeah. A lot going on over here in the western state of Washington.

Second verse same as the first

Only this time with pears.

We harvested about 10 gallons of pears from our Bartlett tree. The Anjou tree didnt do nearly as well...we had some to eat fresh, but not to preserve. Maybe next year will be better for them. Or us.

Pears can be a little tricky. It is a little known fact that pears are actually supposed to be harvested before they ripen. No ripening on the tree is what the research says. You want to pick them when they are mature, but not ripe...and that can be a very tricky thing. And once they are mature and you pick them, depending on the variety, they are then supposed to rest in a very cool place for anywhere from a couple days to appx 30 days. This can prove to be difficult to accomplish when you live in the desert.

At any rate, after a good scrubbin in the sink...

It was time to get to work. First order of business was pearsauce. Upon making the sauce tho, I realized that it just had a lot more moisture in it then when I made the applesauce. It was going to take forever to cook down. And I didnt want pear butter...altho, that does sound tasty.

To remedy the moisture issue, I decided to grab the jelly bag and pour the cooked and already strained pears through that.

It worked like a dream. The sauce turned out very nice and thick.

And it was a win win for me. Straining the pears for a second time left me with a very nice version of pear juice.

A little over 3 quarts of it actually.

Enough for 2 batches of pear jelly. Which gave me 18 jars.

And, of course, not to be forgotten are the pear crisps. Oh my goodness...they are heavenly.

I tell you what...these are not gonna make it till winter. As much as I would love to eat a nice, warm pear crisp this winter....yeah, Im thinking Ill be doing good to have any left by Thanksgiving.

And G was all business when he was capping these off.

He got really, really fast by the time we were all done.

And did I happen to mention that I have about 8 more wagon loads just like this that are waiting to be processed??? Anyone wanna come help me puree some pumpkins? I think I may have been a little over zealous in my pumpkin planting!