Jessy shot this a few nights ago when we had a fire out in our fire pit.  I thought it was pretty cool…   nice and warm within the white ash…

We are getting a furnace installed soon…  it’s all paid for, with generous help from Steve…  he’s been a super swell fella lately, really helping out his lovely daughters, like he always has but well, we are all very thankful for his help.  It is going to be a nice and warm winter here at Windhaven.  I really don’t care to repeat last winter with the corn stove fire and then using the kerosene and electric heaters and racking up a HUGE bill that we are STILL paying for!  Ugh!  We will be done with it by Christmas.  Hopefully sooner if our holiday sales are good.

Money!  Shesh!  I know everyone has their issues with it, too little, just enough, too much…  wow, I wish I had that problem, but I hear it’s a problem at times too!  I suppose if it wasn’t money, we would be grumbling and worrying over the trade value of goats.  And sheep.  Still, I hope that some day we will be a tad more comfortable in that department.  I see it on the pathway, we are getting there.  We’ve made a LOT of huge changes in our budget this year and it has really helped us out.  Made this a tight summer, not a terrible summer in the financial department.  Still have some bills and taxes to finish out, but hopefully that will work out too.  We do much better towards the end of the year than during.

Guess that’s on my mind at the moment.  Winter coming seems to bring out the prepper in us all.  The nights have been getting down into the 40’s and I see we have a 37 due this week as a projected low!  Oh my!  Time to batten down the hatches.  We’ve been getting things finished up… the garden is getting close to done, though it keeps trying to make a few more basketfuls for us each few days.  I’ve pulled up some of the struggling things and given them as treats to the pigs and chickens.  With the turkeys gone and the banties moved into the little coop where it’s warmer, there are less chores for Maggie.  She likes that.  We’ve been working hard to get some last season mow downs and fencing secure.  Got to start hoarding hay soon…  I finally found someone with a steady supply at $6 a bale and have another fellow who says he has $4.50 a bale for about 300 bales.  Just having a little trouble connecting with him… phone tag!  Still, $6 is better than $12, so I will take it.  We go through about 2 – 3 bales a week with our flock as total feed.  I’m figuring 3, and I’m thinking at least 20 weeks of feed.  That’s 60 bales to put up.  I’ll be happy with 40 or 50 soon…  can always load up again in the late fall and be a little stingy the first couple weeks when there is still some fodder to be found grazing.  The nice thing about Shetland sheep and ponies is that they are hardy even on the scrubbiest grass and fodder.  Sure they would love to just lounge about and get handfed sweet feed, but push comes to shove they will make due with late fall hay that is still in the pasture!

Our to-do list keeps getting shorter!  We have two major projects left…  fixing the end of the poultry barn (it needs a new wall and door and a couple windows added)  and then fencing in the back pasture.   We managed to fence in a major section that we call the weed patch, and that has REALLY helped.  It’s about 140 feet by 80 feet of pasture and the flock has been working on it for a week now and hardly made a dent.  It’s allowed the middle yard to get a good grow and the front salad bar pasture is getting LUSH…  Can’t wait to turn them out there sometime at the end of the week!  We’re getting some rain today and so our grass is finally looking awesome.  If we can get another month or two of full time grazing, that will really help out hay supply!

The hogs are getting huge!  We’re sure they are about 150 pounds at least.  Still got another two months to go…  maybe six weeks.  We’d like them to be around 300 pounds on the ground, and right now they are eating and eating…  They are consuming about 100 pounds of feed every 3 or 4 days.  And lots of table scraps and garden goodies.  We were using surplus bread from the bread outlets but all the sudden, everyone has figured out about that little secret and there is a 4 to 5 week waiting list!  Oh my!   Darn!  Getting 150 loaves of good bread for $8 was a steal!  All good things must come to an end, they say.  But soon, the hogs will be gone and we’ll be able to reclaim the whole barn for the chickens.  They like that.  We’ll muck out the last of the pig mud and lay it on our garden beds to rest the winter away, and put down some shavings and sand for the birds and then our chores will drop considerably.  That will be nice.  I’m looking forward to a nice winter of crafting.  And naps.   And some of the good books I’ve been stashing from my garage sale and thrift shop outings.

Well, just rambling a bit. Feeling the nip of Jack Frost and the warning of cool nights to get finished up with the outside projects.  We have a little painting to do, and some more fencing… (always fencing!)  and a little building.  We’re almost done with our mud room redo and I can’t wait to share pictures!  It was a sort of black hole of farm junk that went to die…  and with Jessy and Miss Julia’s help, we have transformed it into a nice welcoming space.  All the tools are organized and Cody has a whole shelf and wall for his horsey stuff and we actually found the washer!!!  yah!  We painted and hung up the cutest wall border with roosters on it!!!  I still got to make some curtains and we want to put some vinyl cut sayings here and there for fun and whimsey.  And Jessy is making some kitty snuggle boxes so the farm kitties have a great warm hangout place.  Jr. put in a kitty door for us, so they can come and go for food and warmth.  Everything keeps moving ahead, slowly and surely.  When we hit our 2 year anniversary next March, I do believe it will seem like we’ve been here a good long time.  That will be wonderful!!!

Hope all are getting their winter prep thoughts together and enjoying this beautiful fall weather.  If you are having that sort of weather, I think you know how wonderful it is…  bright sunny warm days but that lovely, get a jacket and snuggle in bed time is here…  I love it!  Spring and Fall are my favorite times of the year.  Summer and Winter are okay, but Spring and Fall… they are my favs!!!