Calm Before The Storm

Snowmageddon 2026 is being predicted for this weekend. 

As you can tell from the map, we don’t know a whole lot yet.  

But we could use a little moisture. The dry weather has been great for Joe to be able to get around the farm with the tractor feeding. But it hasn’t been so good to keep the water troughs full.   This one is in the horse field. The 10 cows from the cattle drive earlier are now here. They will have to be moved tomorrow so hopefully the trough will fill up some before the arctic blast freezes everything solid. 

On my way down the driveway going to work this morning I had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful sunrise. It looks like the calm before the storm  

I also have an update on my shades. I think they look nice from the outside.  But I needed them last month when we had a crew putting a new roof on the house. 

I will have to brag on the double sided tape I got to attach the fabric to the metal rod.   It actually came from Dollar General (I had a $3 off $15 that was good all month not just on Saturday). There were rave reviews. So far it is working great.   I would highly recommend it if you need strong double sided tape. 

 

Moving and Blow Out

Just our yearly cattle drive from the rented farm to our farm at the house and our farm up the road. 

Once again Joe had done all the prep work and I just had to show up.  Ten cows headed down the road to the house farm. 

There was a little bit of roadside grazing. 

And six went a mile up the road to our other farm. 

 Then on a different subject, Mike borrowed the trailer to take his beef to be processed. On the way there one of the trailer tires had a blow out on the interstate. He was able to change it and made it to the processor.  But it looks like we might need four new tires.  Sorry that happened but glad no one was hurt. 

DIY Roller Shades

The last time I pulled down the cheap vinyl roller blinds in my bedroom, they smelled so bad I had to leave the room.  It is hard to tell what sort of toxic fumes they were emitting.  I had a thought about ordering some custom shades but that thought disappeared when I saw the price.

  

Let’s see if this could be a successful DIY.  I had a piece of fabric that was large enough but I didn’t like how bold the pattern was.  Solution, use the back side.  I took the existing shade and threw away the vinyl but kept the rod.  There was a lot of measuring and ironing.  I used stitch witchery to bind the edges.

I also changed the shades from inside mount to outside mount.  Because I had wooden valances that I didn’t want to take down, it required a lot of tools to finally attach the hardware. 

Tada!  With the sun coming through you still see the pattern but it is very muted. 

I need to check from the outside tomorrow and see what it looks like from that direction.  I am not quite finished. I need to get some doubled sided tape to attach the fabric to the pole.  I just used scotch tape to test it out.   And I need to get something to use as the bottom bar.  So far, I have just used stuff I already had.  The same thing on Blinds.com for the three I just made, would  have been over $1000.  I am counting this as a DIY success.

 

Best Day Ever

Sadie and Allie wanted to spend the night. So Virginia and Mike brought them over after school yesterday to leave them with me. Sadie had requested to have the best day ever. She said she remembered the talk we had about pouting and choosing to be happy. This was a good opportunity to see if it had stuck. Saturday morning started with breakfast with Pop Pop. We moved on to an episode of Unicorn Academy followed by several rounds on the memory game.  Then still in the game mode we brought out the Lego game. Allie lasted through almost one round and Sadie played two. Then upstairs for Barbie time. That lasted until lunch. After lunch we built a fort with two tents and several blankets.  And finally, we headed outside. 

Clyde was a little sassy about being caught. Hugo was trying to teach him some bad habits. 

Sadie asked nicely to not have any jingle bells. And I convinced Allie since she got to have them last time that it would be nice for Sadie to not have them this time. 

Sadie even wanted to help Allie with the hoof cleaning. 

Allie still did not want to trot but she said she was having lots of fun riding Clyde. 

Sadie only wanted to trot. 

So it is a lot of me running around with the lunge whip to keep lazy Clyde trotting.  We have a picture of this because Allie asked for my phone to take a picture. 

She took several. I think I deleted around 30. 

But I liked having some proof that I was there. 

 After we finished it was back to the house so I could rest during another episode of Unicorn Academy.  Sadie took some time to search the internet for a craft.  We ended up making colorful butterflies with glitter wings.  On the way home I asked Sadie if it was the best day ever and she said yes! 

Three Times In One Week

You read that right.  I rode three times this week.  The weather is suppose to take a turn for the worse and I wanted to take advantage of another 50 degree day, even if the wind was getting up some. 

I thought about riding Hugo again but changed my mind and picked Otoelene.  With a jog like that how could I resist.  

And this is what her jog is like while riding.  And yes, she really is jogging,  not walking.   I could do this all day.   This is why Allie only wants to trot on Otoelene and not Clyde.  

But today, I wanted to get my nerve up to head outside.  So after walk, trot, and canter inside, 

We went outside.  I will have to admit that I am still not mentally over the accident.  I lead her around the field first before getting on.  She did find, but I didn't really do much,  just a few circles amount the cattle feed troughs.   But at least it was something.  

I think a trail ride would be nice.  Maybe when the weather is nice again I can talk Joe into going on one.  

 

Another nice weather day so I decided it was Hugo's turn for a ride.  

He wasn't too thrilled about getting close enough for a selfie.  He is a little funny that way.  Always a bit iffy on the ground.  

But the more important thing is  not being iffy in the saddle.  But you can also tell that his attention is sometimes elsewhere.  He doesn't always keep an ear on me like Otoelene does.  

But we had a nice ride and that is always what counts in my book.  I am trying to ride enough so when someone asks if I am riding I can honestly answer, YES!
 

Coffee Table Book

I found a site on line that will turn your blog into a book.  Since I am starting my 19th year of blogging, I realize that I would not be able to turn the entire thing into a book.  But I thought 10 days would be nice. 

Can you guess which 10 days I chose?  Ecuador!

I picked the largest book, 12 inches by 12 inches.  

And it automatically designed the book.  

I selected the cover photo and wrote a little preface, but that was about all.  It was suppose to arrive for Christmas but alas, it was late.   But it is now on my coffee table for viewing if anyone drops by.  

Then today I got another surprise, a tariff bill.  This surprise was not as welcome as the book.  But from my research it looks like I will have to pay it.  No where on the site did it mention this extra fee.  I did find this in the terms of use

When you order Books for overseas delivery, shipments may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied when the package with the Books or products arrives at the destination that you specified. Any charges for customs clearance shall be borne by you, as Into Real Pages has no control over such charges and cannot foresee the amount charged (if any). You agree that you are the importer of record for goods and services you order and you shall comply with all laws and regulations of the destination country.
 

I also didn't know it was coming from the Netherlands by way of Canada.  Live and learn.  But I still like my book. 

Winter Sowing

“Winter sowing is an easy, inexpensive technique to start cold-hardy seeds outdoors in repurposed plastic containers during the winter

letting natural cold and moisture stratify them for strong, early germination, eliminating the need for indoor grow lights or hardening off plants.”

I saw a YouTube tutorial about it and wanted to give it a try this year.

I went with 1/2 gallon juice containers, cut them with a knife but left a bit for a hinge. I also drilled some drainage holes.  I labeled each container and set them in a semi protected location. 

I am hoping for some Frazier fir seedling, lupine, redbud trees and Japanese maple trees by spring. 

On a different note, to liven things up before Spring, I am decorating with some large shatter proof Christmas ornaments that I got 90% off at Walmart.  

I passed them by the first day I went because I didn’t like the colors that were left, gold and pink.  Then after I slept on it I realized I could paint them any color I wanted. And I do like pink!  Why not decorate for Valentine’s Day and Easter.  I think they look like gazing balls out in the yard. 

 

Back In The Saddle

Looks like I took a bit of a break from riding.  Between the weather, the grandchildren and the holidays, I just didn't make any time to ride.  

I changed that today and caught Otoelene.  

The temperature was warm but it was starting to rain.  I just stayed in the barn to ride.  

But at least I did it.  I need to do better at making the time.  And there were no issues, she did great. 
 

Birdfy Update

As you can guess, I was a little worried about getting a refund for my mystery shopper experience. 

I had to follow the links to purchase the product then set it up and review it on Kohl’s wedsite. 

After that I had to send a screenshot of the review and a copy of the invoice on how much I had spent. 

All of this was over two holidays so 3-5 business days turned into over two weeks. 

I have been enjoying the videos of the birds and the ability to check out the feeder live. So I had sort of resigned myself to the idea that I just bought myself a present. 

 But guess what, the refund came through. As an added bonus, because I had purchased it at Kohl’s, I had $20 in Kohl’s cash to spend.  So not only did I get a free Birdfy bird feeder, I got a new shirt!

Surprise Find

Remember the metal goats from my walk in Brevard?

I saw them on several people's porches in just a small neighborhood.  

Well, the trend has made it to southwest Virginia.  I could not believe it when I saw it in a thrift store here for $4.00.   It is cute as it can be. 

I checked Etsy and Ebay and it looks like it sells there for $50-$80 for this petite size.  

I hope that it will be the most realistic goat that I see in my yard.