New Purchases

Leo and I decided instead of buying actual gifts for each other for Christmas we would just get a family gift. We had been looking for a Wii, but couldn't find one in stock when we were looking. Yesterday, I was talking to my cousin and she was saying that the Walmart by them got a late shipment in and were selling them at a nice discount because they couldn't sell them. We decided to try the Walmart by us today. They didn't have the console at the price Tara's had because they were sold out. Luckily, they did have the Wii sports bundle which was also on sale. They didn't have many left, but as long as they had one we were all set. The above pictures is of Leo playing the game that came with the bundle. We didn't purchase any other games yet, but they will be coming. One of the things we ahve to get is either Guitar Hero or Rockband. I want to do some research to see which one would be better. We purchased some LED Christmas lights while at Walmart also. They were 50% off, so we are all set or next year. We got some this year to try and we fell in love with them. On our way home we stopped at the furniture store that is going out of business. The owner of the store passed away and none of his family lives close by to run the store. It is a shame in some ways as this store has been in exsistence with the same family running it for 50 years. We just wanted to see what they had, and they had a really nice rocker at a great price that we couldn't pass up. This was needed because we didn't have anything like that for the nursery. We were just going to get a cheaper glider to put in there until we found this rocker. We got the great rocker for a great price which turned out even better. Then, we got home put in the nursery and it matches the crib perfectly. It looks like they were made as a set. Today, has seemed like such a productive day even though we really haven't done much other than going to two stores.

Some People Use Sleds. Others........

I was watching the pre-game show when Wrangler ran to the window and started whining. At first, I thought maybe that there was a deer out there. No, what do I see. I see Leo walking up the hill towing a kayak. I guess this is his form of sledding. Since snow is a form of water, he figured that this was the way to go. It is moments like this that I am glad that we only have one set of neighbors that can see our place. I am waiting for the neighbor girls to come over here. He has a good trail cut that will be good for their sleds.

Fun for Leo

Here's Leo riding his quad in the snow. He ran around the house before heading into the woods and down the trail. It looked like he was having fun. I hear him running it now, so I am assuming he is plowing our driveway. The regular road is snow covered again because of the amount of snow coming down. Hopefully, this will let up some soon, or we will be well on our way to over a foot of snow.

More Fun

I think the dogs had more fun with Leo playing with them. He can get down and play as opposed to me. They are starting to get a little tired now. It won't be long before they are taking naps. At least, this should make them behave tonight. We are approaching 10 inches of snow here. As you can tell from th pictures, it is the light powder type of snow. The ski slopes will be packed come tomorrow with the quality of this snow.

Landscape

Here are some of the views from the hill today. Leo got home a little bit ago. It took him an hour to make the drive from work to here. He said the roads are barely touched. Not that you can keep up with a storm that is dumping two inches of snow an hour. It is a nice day to just be indoors. Later, we will get a fire going. I already have teh spaghetti sauce and homemade meatballs going in the crockpot for dinner. Leo may take the dogs out to run around again. I could only stand being our there so long. It isn't really all that cold. It is the snow blowing in your face that bothers you. Well, not the dogs really. They don't seem to mind.

Playtime in the Snow.

The snow started falling around 10:30AM. So far in three hours we have six inches of snow and hours to go yet. I took the dogs out to play. They seemed to have enjoyed themselves although Wrangler kept trying to go to the deer food and dig it up. Something tells me he wasn't doing it so they didn't have to when they come later. Satin didn't did in the snow. She did get snow covered by walking under our deck.

The Storm's A Coming.

Well, we are getting what is considered the first big storm of the year.  Of course, we had snow in these parts that was pretty decent, but this is the first for widespread snow.  Leo is over to his friend's to pick up his quad.  He had kept it there after riding it the other day due to us waiting for the title to our trailer to come.  He wanted to make sure it was here just in case he needed to clear the road in an emergency.  He starts his leave, but is going on early to finish up some loose ends that way he can be home before the storm really gets going.  It isn't supposed to really start snowing here until after 9AM.  My appointment for tomorrow was rescheduled for Monday afternoon.  The did that earlier today forseeing what the weather is going to be like.  I didn't feel like going out with an inch plus snow an hour with blowing snow on top of that anyways.  This is especially true since our roads will be the last to be cleared.  The road we live on isn't even plowed at all.  Hence, why Leo is picking up the quad.  At least, I will be home where you can just enjoy the snow.  I am sure the dogs are going to want to go out an play.  Plus, the girls next door will be sledding on the hill around here.  If nothing else, this storm plus the one on Sunday should make for a white Christmas around here.

It's looking like Christmas.

Well, we finally got our tree and decorated it yesterday. It is nice to have the scent of pine in the air. Of course, we always have to monitor where we decorate so the cats aren't attracted to the ornaments. We also had to move a few because of wagging dog tails. It turned out nice I think. We also bought the LED lights this year. They make a big difference. I would suggest them to anyone who needs to get lights for their trees or outside. We have them for our outside deocoration also. Not only do they use a lot less electricity. They are also much brighter, but yet with a soft glow. Since we have a fireplace mantle now, I decided to buy a little village and put that up. It also has lighted buildings which I like. I tried to take some pictures with the lights. I added the few that give you the best idea of things. We also have the top of the bookcase deocrated with snowmen, a X-mas bear, and nutcrackers that we bought our first Christmas and were still in the bag that they came in when we bought them. Another interesting fact around here, is the deer are starting to come out of hiding. Apparently, they have an internal clock that told them that hunting season ended yesterday. One of the ten points was in our front yard last night. Today, the three point that thinks he owns our hill was back taking over his territory. He didn't even move when the dogs went out to go to the bathroom. I think he is glad to be back over here. Plus, he also was a tad bit hungry and since I do have food out he figured he would make up for lost time. I am sure there will be none around come Christmas Day since Dad will be here. We know how they like to hide when he comes.

Much Better Than Outdoors.

Here is my fire for the night.

Snowplow

Here is the quad with the snowplow attachment.

New Toy

Here is Leo riding his new quad. He picked it up yesterday. He has only ridden it around the house so far. If John was home, I am sure the two of them would have been on the trails behind John and Jen's place. Leo has also worked on trying to get the garage door openers connected. So far, they still aren't up. He has had some issues and needs some different tools. I, on the other hand, am sitting in ront of a fire and watching the Steelers play. I think it is much better in here than outside in the cold. It is only supposed to on the single digits tonight. I was out in the garage for a little bit. It didn't seem to be too cold out there, but definitely warmer inside.

And Then There Was One Less.

For those who have been following the saga, this big boy is no longer with us. John got him this afternoon. It was fun taking part of his excitement this evening. We got the phone call that he had the big eight in his driveway. Leo got to witness some part of the not so fun part of gutting the deer. Leo also took pictures for John with Leo's Nikon. It is something that we have this deer from being in velvet to being down on the ground. We are also getting some venison out of the deal. He was a very heavy body deer. We will get a better idea of weight but it appears that he will field dress near 200 pounds. This makes me laugh thinking of how the teachers in Aberdeen thought that little buck weighed 300 pounds. Of course, my feeding these guys did help with the weight, so I think I get some credit for it. Overall, it was a great night that made a lot of hard work worth it.

Daylight Big Boy

Well, the ten point showed up today in the daylight. First time I have seen him during the day since he was in velvet. This may not pose so well for him come Monday. Nocturnal bucks shouldn't start playing in daytime hours during gun season. It also means that Dad may actually get his moment of seeing the deer when he comes here. Of course, John will be mad if you throw things off for his hunting Monday. We only got about three inches of snow overnight. It was done by morning. I put extra deer food out. I have to feed the deer with the crooked tail fawns. She got injured somehow, and probably isn't with us anymore, but I promised that I would look after the two of them. The were late fawns, so they are more susceptible in the winter.

Second Time Around

The second rut is going. That basically means that the little dudes get their chance to breed. Apparently, this six point won the breeding rights for this. He has been here a few times with different does. The big boys, I am assuming, are back across the road. It will be interesting to see if they make another appearance around our place or not.

Rough Being Wrangler

I think that it was really nice of us to buy Wrangler a new couch. As you can see, he really enjoys lounging around on it. Apparently, the little playing in the snow he did today wore him out. This is how he spent most of his night.

More Pictures

Here are some pictures with better lighting. I included the picture of the driveway and some pictures of finches eating at the feeders.

Morning View

This is the view we had this morning. What was supposed to be flurries ended up being two inches of snow. Dave is here this morning doing what he can until the rest of the stone arrives. Due to the weather, that will be coming later today. Dave said the roads aren't snow cover that they are covered in black ice which is much worse of course. Leo had a government car this morning which is the car he is cleaning off in the above picture. They are calling for another inch or two of snow come Thursday. Too bad Anthony wasn't here. He could actually get to see the snow he missed last year.

Slight Chance of Snow

The call for tonight was a 30 percent chance of flurries and occassional snow showers. Well, that turned out to be 100% chance of snow showers. It has been snowing most of the night. I noticed earlier that it was accumulating a little bit. I just looked a few minutes ago and there is an inch plus out there. So much for that little chance of snow. We still aren't in a watch or anything like that, so I am assuming that this should be over relatively shortly. We aren't supposed to get snow again for a few days. I don't know how much of this will melt as it is supposed to be around the freezing mark for the next few days. Dave is supposed to put the stone around tomorrow. This shouldn't stop that plan from taking place. It will just slow things down a little bit I think.

The Pole Barn Saga Continued

Well, the floor to the garage looks good. The concrete guys were here until 5:15AM Friday to finish the job. I learned a lot about concrete floors and the process that goes into dealing with concrete. Once a job is started, you have to follow all the steps in order. You just can't go and come back the following day. Things need to be done when they are ready, or you stand the chance of the floor cracking or being unlevel. We spent part of the early morning hours watching deer. It definitely was one of the nicer dealings in the building of the garage. The color swatch arrived today, and it is the color we ordered, but as Leo saw today light makes a big different on how the color looks. What we did realize is that the garage wasn't built to our specifications. The garage doors were supposed to be offset giving us storage on the side. They built it equal all the way across. Leo is still deciding what he will do. Monday the bay doors will be installed. Either Monday or Tuesday, Dave, the excavator, will be here to put the stone down and re-grade the driveway. Luckily, there was a lot of stone left over from the concrete floor, and the concrete guys did a good job distributing it, so there is less that Dave needs to do.

Update....upon further review of the plans that were sent to Leo, the garage was built to the specs the blueprints were set. Leo didn't look at them real well when he got them. Now, he has decided that he likes the equal bay look better anyway and we still have plenty of storage out there, so we are keeping it as is.

On a Lighter Note.

Many of you are aware of the hunting saga that has been taken place here. John has taken the most of this week off to hopefully bag a big deer. Now we haven't seen any of the big boys for weeks. That was until today. Earlier today the cement guys made a comment about the big deer we have. I asked if they had seen one and they proceed to tell me that there is one across the street right now. Sure enough I look and the ten point is chasing a doe right next to the ditch across the road. They head down right towards where John stand is. Now, I think John may have him because I know John has been sitting in that stand for two days. Well, I look over and here comes John from the hunting area behind his house. I call over there and he hurries across the street. The deer are gone by the time he gets there. He stays out there for hours in the rain, but no deer come. Well, tonight we have all the big boys in our backyard. Even got to witness a two deer fighting and locking antlers. In case you are wondering, I bought a spotlight so we could see such events. Well the deer are still up there. It seems that they are spending the night. I called over to John to let him know. The good thing about this is that they seem like they are going to be heading in different directions come morning, so it shouldn't matter which stand John goes. We will see what happens. Hopefully tomorrow someone's head will be heading to the taxidermist.

Pole Barn Saga

Well, the pole barn started out well. On Tuesday, they got the outside structuring done. Leo took pictures since he was off from work. Yesterday, was when everything went downhill. I knew we were in trouble when only the younger guys showed up for work. The older forman gentleman was not with them. They got here and I heard yelling and looked out to see two of them wrestling over a tool belt in the front yard. They spent most of the morning screwing around to the point that I wasn't sure the barn was going to get done for the cement to be put in today. Now, there were two hard working guys in the group and they were doing their best to get things done. One of them eventually called to the powers that be to see what he could do to get the project done. As they started to put up the siding, it didn't look anywhere near the color we picked out. We will get to that a little later. So the oldest kid comes to get me to say they are almost done and to show me everything. It looked pretty good except for the color. Well, they left without saying anything when they were done. Leo gets home and what they did was left trash all over the place. Most of which was either inside the garage or blocking bays. Now this poses a problem because we have the cement guys coming today. Now, we had said that they could leave the excess materials here and the trash. After all, we can burn it and the excess we could always use on other projects. What we didn't expect was for them to leave everything where it was. You would think that it would have been organized. Plus, they cut everything in the driveway and left nails there. Leo spent a good portion of his night cleaning this up, so nothing was blocked for the cement crew. They got here this morning and actually got on their hands and knees looking for nails, so they didn't run over any. They found a few that were still left and got rid of them. They go inside and the kids from yesterday hadn't smoothed the floor, so these guys had to do it before they start. While we were out there, we checked on the color. The cement guys also agreed it was the wrong color. Later on, we realized that it is the right color but lighting reflection is extreme and changes the color drastically. The one guy from today said that it has to do with the steel siding. It would have been nice for the salesman to tell us that would happen. We would have picked a darker color due to the fact that the sun will be shining on the building and makes it look yellow instead of dark beige. At least the cement guys are good. Then, I had an electrician here to give an estimate to put electric in the garage. There are many names to describe this man. None of which are nice, so I will not use them. He was nasty in his tone. I had to call Leo because he wanted spot for spot on what we wanted out there. Now, Leo didn't tell him anything really different than I did. I did hear him say to his assistant that he hates dealing with women. Needless to say, we will not be using him. The garage doors will be installed on Monday. Sometime next week, Dave, the excavator, will be back to put the stone outside the garage and to regrade the driveway so we can pull into the garage easier. It is nice dealing with the subcontractors. The problem has been in dealing with the main group who you would think would be nicer since they are the ones that get the money. Oh, just to point out, the pole barn was not built by the Amish. I think part of the problem arose when they found out we were a non-inspected job. Since the barn is under 1000 square feet, it isn't required to be inspected by our townships laws. I believe the pole barn company took the chance to send a second rate team to build it instead of their top of line group. It will be nice once things are done.

Phitin' Phils

It was the moment I waited for 28 years to see. The Phillies won the World Series tonight. I became a Phillies fan during the last World Series they won. It has been a long ride. As every Phillies fan knows, you love them, but they don't make it easy for you. You have to take the good with the bad. They can go years without a winning season. Tonight though, they became the best in the land, and it was a moment the everyone who has stayed with them through the years can be proud.

Fun In The Snow

Leo was let out of work early today due to the weather. He said the roads weren't too bad. The biggest problem was down tree limbs. Since he was home, he decided to take the dogs out to play in the snow. Both of the dogs love playing in it. They played a little earlier in the day, but I can only do so much at this point. They were extremely tired this evening due to their playing. They will be upset when the snow melts.

Out In The Open

There was no hiding by the deer as suggested by a certain commentor. They were out in good numbers this evening. This little guy decided to get a jump on eating before everyone else arrived. I also think he is out there eating as I type this. With all the snow and wind our motion lights on the side keeps getting tripped. The bright spot of that is that the snow on the ground is causing a nice illumination and we can see the deer eating that are coming at dark. For those of you who met John, he missed one of the large deer. In fairness to him, he didn't get a good shot and the wind played a big factor. There hadn't been one in this spot all season long, so to say he was surprised was an understatement. The good news is that he was with a doe meaning that he most likely will be back there tomorrow when there should be better weather conditions. We will get one of these boys on his wall before the end of the season.

Winter Wonderland

Here are some pictures from today's snowstorm. So far, it hasn't been as bad as originally predicted, but I have noticed in the past hour that the intensity and wind have increased.

Winter Weather Preparation Afternoon

Well, my original game plan was to run some errands tomorrow instead of going out today. That was until I saw the weather forecast for tomorrow. We are supposed to be getting 3-6 inces of snow tomorrow. That left much to do to make sure we are ready. I looked to make sure that we had food to make that doesn't require electricity to make. Well, we were a little short on that so, I had to run to the grocery store. We were also low on dog food, so i had to get that because I knew we didn't have enough for tomorrow night, and since I had to go out anyways that was added to the list. I got what we needed plus some more deer food knowing that they would be here in full force with the weather that was being called. I then decided to go check the wood pile. Even though it had bothered my allergies, we used the past few days and I was fine. We were using it for Phillies good luck. They lost the game that we didn't have a fire going. Sometimes you have to take one for the team. Plus, if we lose electricity, we can still have some sort of heat. The nice part of having a fireplace is for situations that could happen. I brought in some wood to dry better. It had gotten wet overnight. Leo hadn't covered it. It was actually supposed to be a nice day today as of yesterday's weather news. That didn't end up being the case. I put the wood in the utility room. That room is extremely dry with the furnace being in there. I also covered the wood pile that was left so it can continue to dry and doesn't get wet with the rain and snow we are going to get by tomorrow night. I think that we should be pretty well set no matter what the weather brings tomorrow. I think the wind tomorrow will actually be the worse thing in the storm tomorrow. That is supposed to reach 40mph, so that may cause the worse of the problems. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

First Part Finished

The first part of the garage construction is finished. Of course, I and I am sure my neighbors could have done without the 5:30AM start time today. I thought something crashed into the house early this morning only to look out of the house and realize that Dave was getting an early start to his day. He was banging the side of the truck trying to load it because it was hard to see in the dark. Needless to say, I went out and proceeded to tell him he had to keep the noise down. After all, my neighbors do have children who were probably still sleeping. If not their children, the children in the next county. It was very loud noises. At least this part is done. In about two weeks, we will have a garage. Also note how the deer were bothered by what was taking place this morning. The one doe was very curious. I guess if you want to see wildlife here you must bring big machinery.

Excavation

Here is some pictures from today's big dig. Much to the dismany of Dave, the excavator, there really wasn't that many big rocks. The area cleared was basically top soil. This is most likely the only spot of the yard that was mostly top soil. It didn't take him nearly as long as he thought it would to do. Our neighbor took the dirt which was still good even if it was top soil. We need to keep the res of the yard the way it is for the most part due to the fact that it is built the way it is for drainage. There was also some concern that the process would scare away the deer, but as you can see in the picture they were very interested in what was happening. They also were here eating this evening, so they can't be too upset. All that is left for tomorrow is for him to cut the swell and evel everything. It is expected that is will be done on the early side. The materials for the garage itself will be delivered on November 3rd. The construction will take place later that week.

Short Lived

Looks like the fireplace will be used very sparingly. After using it for two days, my breathing has taken a nose dive. I have found over the years that having the use of breathing through your nostrils is a good thing. At the moment, that really isn't possible. I also over the years like to be able to breathe without feeling like their is a ton of weight on my chest. That too is not possible at the moment. I wasn't like this before using the fireplace. It is amazing how it didn't long for it to take effect. It isn't like I didn't know that this was a possibility. We will use it every once in awhile, but it won't be used on a daily basis.

Fire From Tonight.

Here is the fire from tonight. It is much nicer looking than the one last night.

The First Fire.

With the dropping evening temperatures, we decided to utilize our fireplace. It isn't a practice that I know that we can continue to do on a regular basis with my allergies and asthma, but it wasn't too bad last evening. Leo bought a chainsaw and axes. We also had to buy fireplace tools. We also got a holder to stack the wood outside. The wood was still a tad wet, so it didn't burn that great. Today, I went and bought some Duraflame logs to use to give the wood some time to cure. These logs are supposed to burn cleaner than wood and also last four hours. Right now it is working well although I do admit that I miss the woodburning smell that usually comes with fires. Leo got home from work tonight and chopped more wood. The bright spot is that there is plenty of wood down on the property that we can use for a long time. It isn't like we had to go try and find some wood. It was right here all along. Since it is supposed to rain tomorrow and then snow overnight, we wanted to get what he had cut up with the chainsaw chopped and stacked. I did my part in carrying the smaller pieces down to the chopping station. Obviously, Leo was going to have to care of the larger pieces. I also filled the birdfeeders since it is getting colder. Plus, the deer needed more corn put down. Of course, I could let them forage for themselves, but since the ten point is bedding down at night in our backyard, he needed to be fed. Can't let him start wandering unto other properties. The only place that I will allow him to go is mounted on John's wall.

The disappearing Deer.

For both of his trips here, Dad has tried to view the normally abundant wildlife. I even tried timing feeding them, so that they would be more prevalent while he was here. That game plan did not work. I think they got a little shy with all of the commotion that was taking place during the party. The above pictures were taken the following day. Notice the same large rock that Dad is sitting has deer standing behind it later that afternoon. Even though he didn't see them, he was pretty close to where they eventually went.

The New Car

Here are the pictures of hte new 4Runner.