Tuesday, February 2
Goodness gracious, what.a.day. We managed to get the paper laid out, proofed, exported, and sent to the printer but not without some major graying of the hair. Like I need any help in THAT department! Anyway, there was a lot of screen sharing amongst computers and trying to remember to use the page with the latest changes and updates. The hardest part was trying to find some contributor headshots from long ago so that they would be linked and not blurry in the end result. Most were found, a few were not. There was only so much we could do without the server. Fingers crossed we’ll get some good news regarding the server when we are back in the office on Thursday. Like the news of a new, reliable one!
I stopped at Save-a-Lot on my way home to look for some plain organic yogurt with live cultures. There were none to be found. There were lots of various flavored yogurts but all had extra ingredients that aren’t necessarily good for you and definitely not good to use when making a new batch of yogurt. I left empty-handed and headed home. On my way out of the store I thought how sad that our little town has very few unadulterated, real food choices to choose from when grocery shopping.
I spent the afternoon crocheting, relaxing, and just regrouping after such a tough morning.
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Farm news: only 7 eggs
Wednesday, February 3
I worked at the B&B today. On my in I discovered that I should’ve stopped and filled the truck with gas on my way home yesterday since the needle was past the desperate line and almost to the E. I meant to do that but it had completely slipped my mind as I headed home from work yesterday. I sure would’ve thought the low fuel light would’ve come on. I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate knowing that I had to get gas after work and wondering if I would even make it to town so I made a quick decision to drive on in to town before work and at least get $20 worth of gas. I felt much better after doing that and knew I would be able to concentrate on what I needed to do today.
I spent the first part of my day working on the big ‘Contacts’ project. The rest of the day the boss and I worked on updating a section of the B&B’s website. I’m not actually updating the website itself because that’s WAY beyond my computer knowledge. What I’m doing is creating a visual of how she wants the website to look then I’ll email that and the copy to the web designer. There are several more things we want to add such as some new photos and some guest reviews then it should be ready. I plan on going in for a little bit on Friday to hopefully wrap this project up.
After work we headed to the big town for a couple of items. One was the elusive yogurt I’ve been searching for. I found the perfect kind at Kroger. While there CountryBoy topped the rest of the truck off and filled several gas tanks for use around the farm. Another reason for the trip was to find some leather. I’ve been searching for a leather hip bag large enough to carry around my new camera. Yes, I got a new camera and it’s awesome! I plan on ‘wearing it like a pair of shoes’ as CountryBoy tells me so that I don’t miss a good shot. I thought that the hip bag was the perfect solution because it would allow me to carry it yet still be hands free. I bought one at Target last week but it wasn’t big enough. I’ve looked online but can’t find one I like. I found a pattern that I thought I could easily alter to make it work so we went to the Peddlers Mall to look for some leather. We found a nice piece in black for $15. We decided to walk around a little bit and check out some of the booths. In one booth CountryBoy found a small Mossimo purse in a soft gray leather that he thought would be big enough to hold my camera…
I checked it out and immediately liked it and thought it would work with one modification – adding a clip to this end of the shoulder strap since the strap itself was already adjustable.
We put the $15 piece of leather back then went to Hobby Lobby where I picked up a package of two clips and some gray thread. As soon as we got home I fed LizzieBelle and headed upstairs to modify the bag. The result was a perfect hip bag for my camera for less than $7 and under 5 minutes…
I can put filters in the zipper part of one of the front pockets, keys in the other, and SD cards in the snap part of the front pockets. There’s also room for another small lens inside the bag. I think it’s going to work out great!
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CountryBoy spent part of his day digging a ditch by the former pond to try and reroute the water that’s flowing into the orchard…
… and down the driveway. Which, right now is totally frozen making for a slippery ride up the drive.
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Our empty beehives…
We are going to try to get some more bees this year. We can’t stand seeing the hives sit empty for another year. Plus, we go through honey like no man’s business so it would be nice to have a supply of honey made from the pollen from our own plants around the farm gathered by our own bees.
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Farm news: eight eggs
Thursday, February 4
This mornings’ sunrise proved to be another beauty…
We still have some snow on the ground but it’s raining this evening so I imagine it will all be gone by morning.
Work was pretty slow for me today. I stayed busy during the morning but after lunch there wasn’t much to do. I did talk to someone about the cost of placing an ad and I emailed them our 2021 Rate Card. She called back about an hour later and said the Rate Card might as well have been written in Greek. I laughed and said that I completely understood where she was coming from because I felt the same way when I first looked at it. She felt better after that. I then proceeded to explain what she was looking at and I told her what I felt would be the best bang for her buck. Maybe I’ll see an email in my Inbox on Monday morning from her wanting to go ahead and place an ad.
We did get some good news about the server today – a fella from a local computer store came by and he’s going to get us a backup system tomorrow and order a new server. YES!!! It will take about a week and a half to get it but just knowing that a new one is on the way is such a relief. I did tiptoe around the server today making new page templates for next week then the editor and I copied the pages we needed onto our desktops. Just in case. We’ll probably have one more edition that will be tedious to put together but if it’s just the one week that’s OK. Knowing that light is at the end of the tunnel makes all the difference in the world.
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CountryBoy kept busy making two batches of banana bread. From our current bookings those two batches should last us two months! (We keep them in the freezer until needed.)
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Farm news: 17 eggs, way to go girls!
Friday, February 5
LizzieBelle, our alarm clock as of late, got us up a little earlier than normal with a fit of coughing. This morning she started around 5:45. CountryBoy got up and took her downstairs and I was able to rest for another 45 minutes. It’s day 10 since we started her antibiotics for the Kennel Cough. She is somewhat better with shorter bouts of coughing but she still has a ways to go. She has about four more days of antibiotic left. If she hasn’t stopped coughing by then I will call the vet again and see what she says. My poor Belle. Meanwhile, she is still eating, drinking, walking to the barn with her Dad and sleeping her days away.
I was thankful for the extra 45 minutes of rest before starting my day. The boss is having the website re-done so I volunteered to come in and work on getting all the pieces together – photos, text, layout, etc. – to send to the webmaster. It was a long day behind the computer but we managed to get the section with the most updates needed put together and emailed. There’s another section that we’ll work on Sunday afternoon while I’m there but we feel as though we’ve got a good head start.
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Before I left for work I started my third batch of yogurt. We’ll see whether the third time’s the charm or three strikes and I’m out. Thankfully, by the time I got home from work there were seven jars of YOGURT in the yogurt maker – yay and finally! Since this batch worked my guess is that the starter I ordered is no good. I think I’ll just continue to use plain, organic yogurt with live cultures as my starter from now on.
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Farm news: 12 eggs
Saturday, February 6
What a night. LizzieBelle had a rough night with several bouts of coughing. Eventually she walked to the foot of the bed letting me know that she needed to either get a drink and/or go outside. I picked her up and we headed down the stairs. I thought I was on the last step but alas, I was not and down I went landing on my right side. Thankfully LizzieBelle remained in my arms and was not hurt. Me however? The right side of my bum, my two little toes, and my right shin are sporting some nice bruises. They have reminded me all day of my little mishap.
After LizzieBelle got a nice long drink then a quick trip outside I hobbled back upstairs with her in my arms. As I put her back on the bed she started coughing again. I really thought she would be so much better by now. Anyway, she kept coughing so I put her down where she meandered out to her bed in my craft room. She eventually stopped coughing and, I assume, fell asleep. A while later we heard some noise on the stairs and then some yelping. LizzieBelle had fallen down the stairs. I flew out of bed and down the stairs (only this time I had turned the light on) and praying she had not broken anything. We found her sitting in the dining room under the table looking stunned. We pulled her out and made her take a few steps. Nothing was broken, thank God! CountryBoy stayed downstairs with her. They slept on the sofa for a few hours then CountryBoy came back up to bed and LizzieBelle stayed and slept on the couch.
If all that wasn’t enough my stomach was bothering me throughout the night and I had to get up a couple times and go to the bathroom. I also felt a bit chilled even though I was between flannel sheets and under a heavy quilt, an afghan doubled over, and my fleece bathrobe. I should’ve been nice and toasty underneath all that but I kept waking up feeling just a bit chilled therefore unable to really relax and un-tense my body. So, needless to say, I’ve been a little tired today.
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On my one day off I got four loads of laundry done, filled the bird feeders and got the upstairs cleaned and vacuumed. I also did some crocheting. I am on skein 7 of 9.
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Farm news: 8 eggs including 1 turkey egg
Sunday, February 7
It was a better night for all last night. LizzieBelle had a few short coughing spells but no one fell down the stairs and we all got some sleep. whew. My hip is now a lovely shade of black and blue and still quite tender when rolling onto my right side to sleep.
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This morning we woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow. After coffee I wandered around outside for a little bit testing out my new wide angle converter that came with my camera.
The sides wind up being blurry at the widest range but overall I’m pleased with it and think it will come in handy.
Our guests were delighted to wake up to this winter wonderland. The cabin road was covered with snow so it’s a good thing they drove the side-by-side up and left their vehicle parked next to our truck.
The well and the woodshed…
We’re still so pleased with the well’s makeover.
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Church was cancelled this morning due to the weather and illness. Our guests left about the time we would’ve been leaving for church so it worked out good. I decided to go in to work early. The boss and I worked on another section of the website and got it done and emailed to the webmaster. There weren’t a lot of sheets to iron so I will do them when I go back in on Wednesday. Overall, it was a good and productive day.
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CountryBoy headed up to the cabin as I headed to work. He got another batch of artisan bread mixed together this morning and is letting it rise for 24 hours. Tomorrow he’ll put the dough in a piping hot dutch oven and slide it all back in the oven to cook. Yum! These artisan breads have become our favorite and are super easy to make. Tonight I came home to one of my favorite suppers – baked pork chops, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. Another yum! Overall, CountryBoy had a good day too.
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Farm news: eight eggs
Dream Valley Farmstead 