Knitting Lessons

Just after Christmas my Mom re-taught me how to knit. So now I have been knitting away....I made myself and scarf and headband, numerous dishclothes and some reuseable swiffer pads. It has been a fun thing to share with my mom and sort of addicting!

L: my first attempt. R: my second! much improved!

Paver Project

We completed another project around here. With Renae's help we got going on replacing the wood chips in front of the house with pavers.
The pic of Dean weighing the big pumpkin - was the only before pic I could find. They don't look to bad in the pic but they were a mess and annoying how they went everywhere but where they were supposed to be.
I really like the new pavers they will be so nice for snow and not having wood chips and weeds all over.

My Men @ Work

Caution Men @ Work

Here is our most recent ongoing project. Mid-July, Dean took the cement out in front of our garage as it had cracked and sunk toward the house and we wanted to get the slope corrected to prevent possible water/drainage issues.
Now we are waiting for the cement to arrive. So if you come to visit, please take caution in where you step.

What a Mess!

Just starting

Sloped toward the house and door.

Mess complete - now just to get new cement.

The Latest "Shots"

BOOTZ 'EM

Shots on the Go!

New Sand Pile

Mowing with Daddy

Got all the Gear

Growing up so much - I'm growing whiskers! - We watch and copy Daddy.

Here are some of our latest snap "shots", obviously the gun and shooting at birds, deer etc. are a big hit around here. We have been enjoying the outdoors as much as possible and getting a start on mowing, garden and flowers. The big sand pile is there for a cement project in the works but until we get going on that, it will be Zach's sand box. A sand box or gravel pile to play in is another project we will have to work on once this one disappears.

Fire Bug

Friday - Dean got on a fire kick. We have had a huge pile of trees in the pasture since last spring. And after burning some dead stuff in the garden and cutting down the big dead tree by the garden, we accidentally burned our stump chair which then in turn lead to finally burning the big pile. The stump chair was nice to set stuff on but we had never had any intention on keeping it - it was just to big to pull out with the tractor. Maybe after it has burned and weakened a bit from sitting a year we will be able to get rid of the whole thing.

The Smokehouse

Zach is starting to enjoy helping us with projects like baking, emptying the dishwasher, set the table etc.
Today he got to help make pepper sticks with some of our deer/pork meat.
Kind of cute at church this AM he told this little girl "Daddy", "MEAT", "Deer" - he can say them all well and really emphasized them all. I think she thought he was a bit strange, but he was firm in trying to tell her that they were going to make something with the deer meat and it was serious business.
Dean is enjoying his smoker and has used it quite a bit with all the family wanting to smoke the sausage and other foods they have been making.

New View

 We got new windows and a couple of new doors put in about a week ago. It was a much needed update as the original windows no longer opened and were only a single pane of glass. (Let's hope we really notice a difference this winter.) Now our never ending argument of hot and cold can resume. He wants them open, I want them closed. Anyone else know what I am talking about? At any rate, I also enjoy the opening option just not as frequently as my husband and we really love our new front door. Take a peek.



Love the Red!





Old Window



In with the new!



Goodbye Old, Hello New!

My Valentine present or maybe it was Dean's?
We got rid of our old $5 rummage sale microwave for a $50 deal for an over the range one. We are liking it!

11 Month Bumps & Boxes

OK so this isn't quite what you would expect from the title. Nor is it anything we expected either. Yes, Zach is now 11 months old. But it has been quite a whirlwind around here lately, not just from him keeping things lively but also thinking about packing boxes and getting ready to move.
We aren't moving far, only 7 miles Northeast of where we currently live. We had been planning on building when the place we always looked at every time we drove by came up for sale. So....now our current home is for sale. Our new place has our dream horse barn and shop along with a ranch style house on it's 18 acres.
Our other little bump in the road (or should I say bumps?), came in the form of hives! This past weekend Zach broke out in major hives - not really sure what from - and will likely never know. Anyway... a trip to the ER on Saturday, Rx of Prednisone (which made him really weird) and another trip to the Dr. on Monday for myself and Zach since I wasn't getting over an eye infection, bad earache and sore throat. I think we are all finally on the mend!
Please pray for the sale of our house, and for all that we have coming up in the next few weeks (A bible study I'm starting, music for church tea, Dean's 30th, & our move!). Then hopefully all will have calmed down a bit so we can enjoy Zach's first birthday!

Celebrate St. Nick!

This weekend we got our Christmas tree up and decorated. We usually wear our Santa hats to get in the spirit and this year Zach joined in the fun! Saturday, December 6th, was St. Nicholas Day so the hats were a rather fitting celebration. As you can see from the slide show we had a lot of fun with it!

Brothers - Smokin'

This weekend some of Dean's brothers decided to make some deer sausage with some of the deer they got during this current deer season. So they gave Dean's new smoker a big trial run by smoking about 120 lb. of sausage. All went well and it tastes great! Everyone was pleased with the results. Mmmm...Good! Pictured L to R: Dan, Dean, Daryl, and Dale

Boys and their Toys.

This is really "work" I suppose, but I think for Dean it is more fun than anything. He gets to drive a skid steer and truck what more could a guy ask for? Anyway...while I was off doing my singing, he stayed home and cleaned out a bunch of dead trees and hauled them away. One of those projects that has been on the list for awhile.

Pays to be a Plumber

Sometimes it pays to have a plumber around the house. This last Friday, Dean came home for dinner with a smirk on his face and a tape measure in hand. Yep...a dishwasher would fit. So that evening he started tearing out the cupboard and making room for our new appliance. Since we had other things going on Saturday we didn't get the project finished until Sunday evening and had quite a mess of a kitchen for the whole weekend. But the final results are well worth it. Mama and Papa even got in on the excitement as they came up to visit Sunday afternoon and evening. (The kitchen was too messy to cook them a meal so we went out to eat instead.) :)

Project Smoker: Step 2 and beyond....

Well the smoker is finally smokin'. Dean lit it up for the first time last night.
He has been working on it here and there for the past few weeks, getting ready to make deer sausage and more!
He did most of the work here but we did take a little trip to use Papa Dean's welder.
Now onto all the good food!

Egg Heads 08

Saturday we went out to the farm and did some egg dying with the little nieces. It was fun and we made Egg heads on the Ski side this year. Watch out they're looking at you!

Project Smoker: Step 1

Last Sunday we went for a visit to my parents. We really had a fun visit and also had a project! Ever since we smoked sausage with Dean's uncle Ed, Dean has been calculating a plan to make his own smoker. Well here is step one. We got an old tank out from the basement of the old Duffner house. It took some work and by the time we were finished the stairs going down to the basement were barely hanging on.
We also got another tank out for Dad for his new burn barrel. It is always fun to explore that house although it is sad to see how things deteriorate over time so much has come appart since Dad bought the place 20 years ago. But the memories live on as we take the old and make them into something new!

Sausage Sat and Sun

This weekend Dean and his brothers Dale and Daryl made a whole bunch of sausage. Dale had brought back some pork jowels and seasoning to mix with the deer meat. It ended up being a long night Saturday but I think they had fun. Then Sunday they smoked the sausage with the help of their Uncle Ed and his smoker. Now Dean is calculating on how he can make his own smoker!
Pretty tasty!

Mr. Plumber

Saturday, my Mr. Plumber brought the sewer truck out and pumped our sewer. There are some benefits to Dean's job! The smell outside wasn't to great, but I was making dozens of zucchini muffins inside so the house had a nice aroma at least.

Sausage Makers

Dean decided to make some more sausage out of some of the ground deer and pork we had in the freezer. Since his family has a sausage stuffer, we went to the farm and had Bernice help make nice links!