Snow Bound Chickens

This is what the chicken coops looked like yesterday morning.  

The snow was so sticky that it didn't fall through the chicken wire on the top of the pens!  It just collected there like a canopy.  It kept most of the snow out of the pen, but it sure did weigh down the top of the pens!

The chickens still weren't real excited about being out in the weather.  Those that did come out scurried up under the coop where it was relatively dry and out of the wind.

This is the bantam coop and pen.  See how the snow was making the top of the pen sag!  I opened the chicken door at 6:30 a.m. and they still had not made an appearance when I finally left for work about 10:15.

My Handy Man was home all day and kept a good watch over them.

I'm sure they will be just as happy as we will be when SPRING finally arrives!  So they can get out and eat worms and bugs in the sunshine!

And I'll be able to get back to some of the projects on my list that include painting.  I already tried to spray paint indoors and ended up with a fine mist of paint on my floor - even though I thought I had it covered with enough paper! Thankfully it's just the sub-floor!

And remember those negotiations I was making with the man in red about Christmas time?  If all goes right, I'll be getting that new MacBook this weekend!  Keep your fingers crossed.  I CAN'T WAIT for so many reasons!

A Surprise In The Mail

The other night I called My Handy Man as I was driving home from work.  He told me a surprise had come for me via UPS.  This is what was waiting for me when I got home:

 When I opened it, look who was inside the box:

And look what she had for me:

Now I just hope I can do it justice!

Actually this is the gift I got to select as my "thank you" for working at my job for over 20 yrs.  There were lots of other items that I could have selected, but since we are remodeling our kitchen and RED is the main color we are using, and since I REALLY needed new cookware, I thought this was a great choice!

Have you used this cookware AND do you like it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY BOY

Happy 28th Birthday to my son the Wildlife Specialist!

I'm so glad that he has found his calling.

Son, you make a Mom very proud.

So Cold Even The Chickens Won't Venture Out

The chickens wouldn't even come out of their house this morning.  It was 18 degrees.  They just peeked out and pulled their little heads back inside.  I put their water and feed inside so they didn't have to venture out into the cold to eat and drink.  

Spoiled?  

Yeah, absolutely!  

Everybody at my house is spoiled rotten, but we like it that way.

Our little lake as you come in the driveway:

Those white spots on the picture above are snow flakes that were caught in the light of the flash.

These strange little "vein" formations were under the ice and all over the lake.  We thought they looked really cool.

 Here's another one.  It looks like the shadow of a tree branch, but it is under the ice.  Not a shadow at all.

The weatherman says we had 2-3 inches this time.  It's melting off now, but it's still below freezing, so everything will turn to ice again.    There's still more snow in the forecast for this weekend on into the first of next week.

From the looks of things in the blog-o-sphere, everyone is getting snow.

Is it snowing/snowy where you are?

This Is What We Woke Up To This Morning-January 10, 2011

These were taken from our bedroom door at the front of the house.  Just prior to taking these, 4 beautiful young doe ran across the front yard.  They stopped in front of me (guess they saw me standing in the doorway), but not long enough for me to get a picture.

Can't even see the driveway, which is just beyond the tree in the foreground.  The black circles you can see in the distance are areas where the ice on the lake has melted a little and then re-froze.

 We didn't measure it, but it looks to be 4-5 inches, due to the way it's piled up around the trees.

I accidentally deleted the other 12 or so shots I took out the back and side of the house.

My Handy Man used his leaf blower to clear off the front porch and walkway to the chicken coop.  Then he drove me down the driveway, up the hill in front of the house (that was a challenge), over the interstate to get gas, coffee and donuts and back to the end of our road, where he turned the car over to me so I could make my way SLOWLY to work as he walked back to the house!  I tell ya, he is THE SWEETEST man I've ever known!  That's why I keep him around!  Well that and 'cause he IS pretty handy!

The weather man says we are expecting another couple of inches today/tonight.  I'll try not to delete those pictures before I can post them here!

Stay Warm.  I know I intend to.

The First White Christmas In The Nashville Area in 17 Years!

This was our Christmas tree this year.  The first Christmas tree we've had in this house and we've been here more than 8 years.  That's because we've been going somewhere else to celebrate every year and I'd just been decorating our fireplace mantles.  But I hope we've started a new tradition of having the family come to our house for Christmas.  So I bought this tree on Black Friday and immediately set it up.  That's my "cry baby" to the left of the tree.  A friend from where I used to work made her for me years ago.   Can you see the snow out the window to the right?

This was the first White Christmas that the Nashville Area has had in 17 years and it waited for this special year when all of my Grand babies, my Mom and my precious in-laws were at our home!  This was also the first Christmas in 17 years that my in-laws were in Tennessee.  In the past they were in Florida every year, volunteering at Big Cypress just outside of Naples.  We were so glad to have them home this year and glad that we were blessed with a beautiful snow fall.

 The picture above was taken outside of our front door and the one below from outside our back door.  It was just beautiful, as you can see.

Sadly I got a call at 5 a.m. on the 26th that my brother's wife had passed away and we left at 3 p.m. to drive to Texas.  She was in Tennessee with us on the 4th of July and started feeling sick after they returned to Texas.  She was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given 6-12 months.  It was a shock that she was gone so soon, but a blessing that she did not have to suffer long.  My brother is having a rough time, as you can imagine, but he is a strong person and he has a good support system of friends around him.

We are all looking forward to a much better year.  2010 was sure a doozy!