Bark Box Trial!

dsc_0317

If you haven’t heard about this…  you might want to google it!  It’s called Bark Box…  and it’s a fun monthly subscription thing for your doggies!  Now, normally, we would probably not go in for something like this.  Our budget is pretty tight, getting better but well, you know.  Dog toys and treats are pretty far down on the whole budget requirements thing.

dsc_0321

However, in a moment of weakness…  they got me with a $5 sample box to try.  I thought, hey, why not.  We could cancel anytime and I thought, we should give it a try.

Well, I gotta say, our doggies just went nuts.  It was like Christmas x5 for them.  And we had a good time as well!  They must spray some sort of bacon spray on the box because, buddy, I gotta say, they were excited the minute it came into the house!  It was like they knew…  they were so interested.

dsc_0324

The toys were cute and fun and the treats were all really nice and made in the USA.  I like that.  You read a lot about some of these off beat treats coming from China and they are not really that good for you beloved friends.  Ratchet was very very excited for the huge beef knuckle bone!!!  He claimed that right away.

dsc_0331

Normally, the boxes range from about $20 to $30 a month.  We are signed up for the $20 one and it’s free shipping.  And I have to say, it’s a good value.  There are at least a couple toys, one big chewie thing, a ball type toy and a couple bags of yummy treats.  One sounded pretty darn good, I thought I’d like one!   Maple Bacon anyone???  Ratchet sure approves!

dsc_0332 dsc_0335 dsc_0342 dsc_0348 dsc_0353

Nom, nom, nom!!!  Happy doggies!!!  Evee loves the fetching toys and of course the treats!!!   Ratchet likes the squeeky things and stuff to chew.  One box was fine for the two dogs.

I can’t believe how much fun we had with this.    The dogs were so excited, playing and snacking and tail wagging.  We had fun opening it and exploring all the little bits.  There are cute cards in there and information about the toys and such.  Really, a great fun deal!   We will certainly give it a try for a few months.  Our pooches are going to be very spoiled.  We really don’t get them many treats and such, so it’s kind of nice to have it all done for you and mailed in.  Can’t wait for the next one and the fun.  It’s been two weeks now and they are still playing with everything, although the bone is gone and the snacks…  haha… missing!  But they loved every single one.

dsc_0355 dsc_0358

Toto is afraid.  Very afraid.  The doggies were so excited and jumping around and acting like fools!    He wants a Meow Box!  haha…  Maybe we will have to try that after a couple months of Bark Boxes!  After all, cats needs toys too!   :-)

Pin It

Sunday Funday

dsc_0249

Well, not too long ago, we had a very fun Sunday!   The first part of the day was spent enclosing in our little pallet goat barn that we made this summer.  As you can see, it was not quite ready for winter!  This front plastic took a whipping with a bit of a storm and needed to be re-stapled up and we wanted to enclose the building in plywood to really make it nice and warm for our little goat family.

dsc_0252

Jessy measuring the chubby goaties…  we had to make sure the height and weight was right and as small as we could make it.  To keep the cold wind out!

dsc_0256

The pigs were all very interested in what was going on.  They never get anything fun, they say.

dsc_0259

We bought six big sheets of heavy plywood…  we plan on building this little shelter up a little at a time.  It seems to be very nice for them so far, they love it.  But we have plans to dress it up and make it even more functional.

dsc_0264 dsc_0266Time out for a little lunch!   Actually, we fed everyone to keep them all busy!!!

Goaties like to get in the way!

JPEG and PDF are doing awesome, they are so cute!  Fuzzy!!!

dsc_0269 dsc_0270

Looking nicer!!!   We want to roof the thing with some remanent steel panels from the steel roofing place in the next village over!  They have it often at super good prices…  It wouldn’t cost too much to roof this little building.  It’s 8 x 16 in size.

dsc_0274

Starting to look better!  The panels really make it super nice and block the winds a great deal.  We left the top bit with just the heavy plastic to let light in for them.  They really like it and will spend a lot of time in there lounging where it’s dry and warm and free of wind!  It’s cozy…  dsc_0275

Maverick is checking out the progress.  He is such a pretty boy!  dsc_0276

The last panel we cut out a little hole door.  It’s really too small for us to get through easily, so we made it hinged so that if we wanted to, we could unlatch it and go in.  And in the summertime, we can take that panel off and store it, so the whole little barn is open.

dsc_0281 dsc_0284

It’s not super pretty but it’s effective.  We will keep at it and in the spring will add some more boards and paint it.  Just keep at it.  Right now, we are mostly concerned about the animals welfare and comfort, not their decorating needs.  Sam really loves it!

dsc_0287 dsc_0289

dsc_0292

Buttercup thinks it needs cable TV and a mini snack bar…

dsc_0294 When we can, we’d like to do the same to the ram shack up front.  However, their shelter has this super heavy billboard plastic/vinyl on it and it’s super warm.  They had their place up last winter and were quite comfy in there.  It’s not the prettiest, but we hope to gussy it up a bit more as we continue on.  Almost all of our wind and weather comes from the south and southwest, so we oriented the buildings to avoid that wind.  It makes them very nice.

dsc_0297

Well, as if goat barn fixing up wasn’t enough fun, we decided to throw in super duper heavy cast iron wood stove retrieval to the mix!  Our lovely friends Tim and Mary had this old wood stove in their basement that they were not using and gave to us!  We were so thankful.  Problem was, how to get it home!   We tried to lift it and it was just way too heavy for us girls.  And there would be no way we could get it into the bed of our truck.  dsc_0301

So we asked our friend Josiah and he said, sure, he had a low flat trailer, a heavy duty wheelie cart thing and some friends!   So off we went…  after making plans and all.  They got it in the trailer pretty darn fast!   It’s amazing how just having the right equipment makes everything so much easier…

dsc_0307

Once at the house, it was just a little bit of manhandling and up three big steps to get it in place!  Gosh, how nice is it to have friends that don’t mind helping out for a little gas money and lunch!!!   It’s wonderful…  dsc_0311

And there she is.  A nice little Englander wood stove!  Needs a little brushing up, and a bit of pipe to make the connections to our old chimney and all, but she looks like a bright copper penny to me!   It will really help in the cold, cold months to add some warmth to our homestead!

That’s how a crazy day around here can go!  From goat barns to wood stove installations!  Just fun, fun, fun!!!  Thanks guys!!

Pin It

Thanksgiving 2016

dsc_0220

Just catching up with life…  Here’s a little photo album from our Thanksgiving!   We keep it simple here at the homestead… but we like it that way.  A day of relaxing and cooking some good food and just hanging out!  Of course, we have to make from scratch mashed potatoes!!!  dsc_0226 dsc_0229

And honey sweet carrots and cranberry fruit jello!   Not Thanksgiving with these favorites!

dsc_0230

Our bird, brined… of course!   He got a little hot on the top, we had drizzled a little honey with a garlic and butter baste and the oven must have been just a little hot and the honey burnt a bit on the top where the lid was for most of the cooking.  It’s okay, the rest of him was absolutely perfect!!!

dsc_0232 dsc_0233

Ratchet thought maybe he could join in!  Sure, the more the merrier!  dsc_0234 dsc_0235

Oh yes, there is nothing better than a traditional Thanksgiving spread!  And of course, the food coma nap afterwards!!!

But first…   we had to have a little slice of Jessy’s homemade apple pie and some French vanilla ice cream!!!  Yah!

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving at your little homestead!

jessy-apple-pie

Related Posts with ThumbnailsPin It