Merry Christmas to all.......

We woke up this morning to about 7" of heavy, wet, perfect snowman snow!  The snow makes the horses and dogs frisky and the kids (and Jim) anxious to get out and play.

 The front door is decked......

 ......and to all a good night!

God bless us everyone!

The New Critters

LUCKY

WAY back in March, Karryn hatched a duck egg in her incubator that Jim bought on Ebay.  The little guy was so cute as a baby.

Lucky Ducky Patrick (hatched right before St Patrick's Day - thus the name....) loves Karryn.  He follows her around and snuggles her.  

And he loves a bath.

Patrick lives with the chickens and seems to rule the roost.  The pair of chicks shown on the blog last year are a hen and a rooster.  The hen, Mrs Captain Davy Jones, is a sweet little hen.  She will let us hold her, lays eggs for us and then sits on the last few eggs to hatch them.  Snufflles is a really pretty rooster and produced a few chicks.  Then he got aggressive and we shipped him off to the farm down the street (really - the farm down the street really did take him).  We also took another rooster down there and traded for 4 baby chicks............ALL of which turned out to be roosters!  We took them back to the farm plus another rooster chick that was hatched here and traded for a hen from the hen house.  The first night we had her we went down to the barn to check on her a few times, each time she was out of the chicken stall and somewhere else in the barn.  The chickens are locked in the stall but she must have flown over the wall.  Her name is Houdini. 

  Karryn just hatched 3 baby chicks, also from Ebay, and they live in the kitchen............yay!  So the final count is 1 duck, 2 hens, 2 roosters, and 3 baby chicks.  Thank goodness there is NO partridge in a pear tree!  (Actually, the pear tree fell down across the road during a storm this last summer - but that's another story.)

SALLY

We got Sally the first part of August, right before Brennan's birthday, so he got to name her.  When we got her we thought that Maggie would help train her - she spent the first couple of months completely ignoring her.  They have recently started to play together.

and she grew, and she grew and she grew.......... (and I bought a carpet cleaner!)  She is now almost 5 months old.

FINALLY, A New Post!

OK, so my "New Year's resolution" was thrown out the window as soon as I typed it.  So here it is - the highly anticipated updated post.......

One of the coolest additions to our home decor this year is a blown-up copy of a handwritten manuscript.  Dennis Awe, a friend of Jim's, has played with some famous bands through the years.  Dennis loaned us a handwritten manuscript, written by Frank Como, from one of these shows.  I took it to Ivar at A & D Technical Supply in Omaha, NE and he worked his magic.  He blew it up to 48" x 48" and printed it on canvas.  Jim and I stretched it on a frame.  We found a light on ebay and voila - it's art!

 



































A New Master Bedroom!

Come on in!

We finished "Phase 1" of renovations to our master suite.  In the bedroom, we replaced all the moldings and painted everything.  The chaise lounge is going to be recovered - in fact, I bought the new fabric today (new photos to come..... I hope).

Eventually, where the armoire is sitting,  we'd like to put french doors out to a deck.  The view out of these windows is our favorite.  Also, replace the floors with hardwood.  (That's Phase 2, I guess.)  This isn't the best pic of it, but this is a drum shade ceiling fan from Lowe's.

Here's the before shot.  There were rough cedar boards as trim at the ceiling, an old ceiling fan that only worked on low speed, and ugly trim.  I also painted the windows black in this room and bought new window hardware.

The Master Bath................... bigger than it looks but hard to get a good picture.  The "column" on the right side of the pic is the wall which separates the tub and the shower.  Above it is the skylight.  The wall used to extend up to the ceiling - which was a little weird.  Jim shortened it and now we get light from the skylight in the shower!  We painted and glazed the vanity, replaced and added moldings, and painted everything.  We took down the large mirror above the sinks and hung 2 mirrors.  The mirrors started life as cheap gold framed mirrors from Home Goods.  They were close to the right dimensions that we needed but too short.  I added a board and moldings then painted and glazed them to match the vanity.  We attached picture lights to the top - yes, it's a Restoration Hardware ripoff - but we thought it was a cool idea!  Jim added the sconces between the mirrors.

The before pic shows how really sad this bathroom was.

You might even say "depressed".

Next on the list is the laundry room!  Hopefully it won't be another year before the next post!

Happy New Year!!

I can't believe another year is gone.........and that I say that every year!  Part of my new year's resolution is to be a little better about updating this blog.  (Thank you to all who still care!) 

The first thing to catch up on is the progress of our "Nell Hills inspired" kitchen eating area.  It's hard to see, but on the other side of the table is a built-in bench seat with cubbies below.  The added cabinets are great storage for extra dishes.  It was a very happy day to finally unpack the rest of our dishes.  I spent the day thinking of sweet, Audrey Foley who packed ALL of those dishes almost 2 years ago!   

This "before" picture was taken right after Christmas 2011.  When we bought the house there were cabinets above the penninsula.  We took the cabinets down almost immediatly then El took out the soffit right before they went home after Christmas.  What a difference a year makes!

The second order of business is to show off the new dining room!  In October we offered to host Cassidy's marching band party - they said that they really wanted to go bowling.  So, that weekend, Jim and I tore apart our dining room.  A couple days later I got a call to see if we still wanted to have the party here!?!  I'm sure that nobody would've minded a little construction, but I was determined to have the room done before the party - and I just barely made it!


before

This year it was much more fun to decorate for Christmas.  Mom and El came down to help, go on a home tour, go to a concert, and play.  We packed as much fun into the 3 days they were here as we could.



Not that we like to procrastinate or anything, but Jim was finally home on Dec 21 and we decided we should go Christmas shopping.  While we were gone, the kids (mostly Karryn) worked on this gorgeous gingerbread house!  I think they did a GREAT job.

Bennan made the trees.

I looked out of my kitchen window this morning and saw our biggest accomplishment of the year - the building of the barn (which Tom actually built).



This picture was actually taken from the kitchen window - this is really our view!

The horses are fat and happy.  Mrs Captain Davy Jones (the hen) has just laid her 14th egg in as many days.  Snuffles (the rooster) has learned to crow - and does whenever we turn the barn light on.  Tiger (the kitten) is a big Tom cat now and Bella thinks she's a house cat (she is wrong).  Maggie is on new vitamins and seems to be getting around a little better.  Pirate Freckle-pants (the bunny) just eats and poops!

Life on our little farm is really good.  As we're putting together our list of projects for the new year, we're feeling very blessed to be on this adventure. 



So, from our crazy family to yours, have a very happy, blessed, god-filled, fun and slow (for a change) New Year!



We Have Horses! (now what do we do?)

     The horses arrived Tuesday, June 26th!  It was a bit of a surprise - we thought they would be coming the following Monday, but the vet visit went faster than expected.  So, Don (the horse whisperer) called and said he was bringing Coco and Frito out that very afternoon!  And then the fun commenced.................................

Day 1 - Even though the horses were coming from the same place, they had not been together at all until the trailer ride to our house.  That evening there were a few scirmishes - we're not entirely sure who came out on top but we think it's the little one, Coco.  Tuesday evening was beautiful weather and everyone in the neighborhood was out walking.  Frito and Coco aren't used to living in town - they stood at the fence on the street side and watched the "parade" of people with dogs and strollers.  They even liked to watch all the cars driving down the street.  Coco was very interested in Maggie - then he tried to stomp her.  When they weren't looking, Maggie ran to the middle of the field and "marked her territory". 

Day 2 - I woke up really early and walked out to check on the horses - Coco had a new "owie" on his back and Frito had a new scratch on his nose - not exactly sure what happened.  They seemed to get things figured out because the kicking each other has stopped.  Frito likes all sorts of treats:  carrots, apples, celery, most anything.  Coco doen't like treats at all so we didn't have anything we could hand feed him until.............we discovered sweet grain (grain with molassas).  We went to Charlie's Farm Supply and met Jennifer (the horse girl who introduced us to sweet grain) and bought some general supplies.  When we got home it was about 100 degrees out but we couldn't wait to try out the lunge line and see if they would listen to us.  They did pretty good then we gave them a couple of handfulls of the sweet grain as a treat - Coco eats it out of our hands now and Frito if trying to get in the barn to find it.  We think they might like us now.  Later that afternoon Karryn and Emily (girl next door) played "beauty shop" with them.  They opened the top half of the stall door and pulled a bail of straw over to stand on - the horses stuck there heads in there and the girls brushed and styled their manes.The horses were really enjoying it too!  That evening we decided to saddle up Coco for the first time - he was so good that Brennan even got to ride him.  Frito, on the other hand, was tied to a post (to keep him out of the way), got himself tangled up in the little bit of rope he had and fell to the ground - Jim was right there and pulled the rope free really quick and Frito got up just as fast.  Now he has a new "owie" on his back too (not as bad as Coco's though) and is only allowed about 18 inches of rope (he can be a little naughty when he's tied up).  When we were done we hosed them off - I'm not sure either one really enjoyed it but they stood there for us...................then they went and rolled around in the dirt like big dogs.

Day 3 - Cassidy, Karryn, Jim and I got up at 5:45 and went out to "play" with the horses.  Cas went to the fence and whistled - both came right up to her (looking for more sweet grain, no doubt).  We were all able to ride Coco.  Cas and I worked with Frito on the ground (we still don't have a 2nd saddle for him).   We were done by 8:00 - and gave them their treats in their own buckets.  It;s supposed to be pretty hot again today and we're going to Hannibal to see the Gertners this evening, so other than a brushing from Cas, the horses are probably done for the day.

The Animals of Wieda Farm

Maggie - Head Dog and Home Protector. 

• Keeps strangers at bay 
• Fearless while confronting the UPS man (especially from behind a closed door)
• Keeps Bella from wandering too far from the house 
• Sleeps on the couch when nobody is looking

Bella - Rodent Hunter Extraordinaire. 

• Angers birds
• Keeps mouse population down (we think)
• Sneaks in the house to sleep on Cassidy's bed (or Karryn's bed, or under the guest bed, or under the dining room table, or under my desk, or in my closet.......... she's pretty sneaky)

Snuffles and Captain Davy Jones - Chickens at Large.

• Squeak - cluck
• Eat and poop

Pirate Freckle Pants - new member (no title yet)

• Super cute
• Wiggles nose and hops

Tiggs (short for Tiger) - Mouse Hunter in Training and Barn Guard.

• Found his litter box already (YAY!)
• Your guess is as good as mine......



Coco - arriving TODAY!!!! (June 26).

• Rocky Mountain horse from East Kentucky.
• Still in training (more to come).

Brennan on our "Wild Horse" - he's a crazy man!

Frito - The tank on legs! 

Frito was kind of a surprise - When I called Don (the horse whisperer) to check on Coco's progress, he told me about Frito.  He's a Tri-colored Paint horse with a gentle spirit.  He's about 15 hands and built like a tank, but seems to be a gentle giant.  So we had to make a deal on both of them.  We feel sooo fortunate to have met Don and to learn from him.  He has such a way with the animals and is a great teacher.

Frito & Don

The Wild Animals

The Killdeer - made a nest out in the middle of the old burn pile.  If you look close you can see the speckled eggs under her - she was yelling at me for getting so close.  To protect her nest she would run a few steps away from the nest and pretend her wing was hurt.  It took 4 weeks for the eggs to hatch and when they did we happened to be near by.  As soon as the babies were hatched they jumped up and ran around in circles - then the parents moved them to a new location. 

The Love Doves - enough said.

One day this spring there was a parade of 4 pairs of geese parents with their babies walking across our field to the lake behind us (evidently it was time for a swimming lesson).

The animal population on "the farm" is growing and the kids are happy with the new pets.  I'm just hoping the excitement continues as they care for them!  (The wild ones are on their own)

Summer's Here!

Kids home from school, roses blooming, pool parties, weedy gardens, overgrown trees..... we love working on all the things outside, but it stops the progress of the interior. 

Our big project so far has been the deck.  Jim started by powerwashing the deck... which is how we discovered that we have a redwood deck.  The first rule in redwood decks (which we then learned) is "never powerwash a redwood deck".  Powerwashing raises the grain and then you have to sand it before you can stain.  First of all, we didn't know it was redwood and second, we didn't know rule number 1!  Our weekend project quickly turned into a week and a half project.  After sanding and re-securing the floor we stained the floor, painted all the railings, stripped the top board of the deck railing and stained it.

Jim had the great idea of "carving" a horse into the floor of the landing - so, Karryn and I got creative with the Dremmel.

We decided that a lonely umbrella in the middle of the table wouldn't be enough, so we found these three matching umbrellas.  They weren't tall enough to walk under so we built little bases and attached them to the railings with copper plumbing straps.  I'm not sure how affective they are in giving us shade, but they look nice.