a snow storm, ruffed grouse, some more bad news.....

arrows point to the ruffed grouse

we are to be getting a snowstorm, starting at 2am (so by the time you read this, it should be snowing)
bernie went to double check the furnace so i don't have to be getting up a few times during the night to stoke the woodstove, but discovered that the bottom of the chimney that connects from the furnace to to the masonry chimney is all rotted out- i had thought i saw some sort of dark pile of dust on the floor behind the furnace but it's hard to see back there

so that is more of our bad news, gee lately between the water heater elements, and all the rest..... i don't know.- next week when he has some time, he'll go to the HVAC place and see about getting the parts to fix it but i think we maybe need to get a new chimney liner for the furnace. maybe we need to get a sweep in here for that chimney, because they have those cameras that they lower into the chimney to make sure the liner is ok, no cracks or splits etc.

now the one bright spot today was a loose flock of 4 ruffed grouse out back this morning.
i tried to get a picture but couldn't zoom in enough with the little camera.
i was surprised to see them though.
there is now some seed out there to see if they will come back
since now we know that they are in the area

my eyes are swollen and infected, the only thing we can think of is that when i wash pails and and dump ponds, i get poopy water splashed into my face...i do remember a day a few weeks ago when i had a splash over my glasses right into my eye.
i would imagine that it what caused it, and constantly cleaning the ash out of the woodstove hasn't helped i guess either-- i tried to get a doctors appointment but there aren't any until january.
bernie wants me to go to the hospital, we'll see, what with the storm and all.

the other day, bernie build me a very useful, if primitive step back cabinet in the kitchen- right now it's only shelves, but we are planning on putting bead board on it..... and a door.
he is upset that it looks so 'primitive' and i am ecstatic that it works for holding my pots and pans... wow.... no more musical pots on the stove/oven when i am trying to cook.. i could get used to this whole idea of a more efficient kitchen...... now if i can only convince him to use some of the wood we have laying around to make counter tops for the kitchen i would be so shocked i would fall over!

now i know i said i was taking a break and believe me right now i am.....i want to continue with the pantry series, and i want to add more knitting etc.....
i may be holding off moving the blog and adding more 'serious' type useful content, and i may miss a day or so posting
i normally used to post about 5 times a week .....followed by some periods of not posting at all, but i am probably going to try to settle on 3-4 times a week and stick to that  unless something comes up when i post more- and i am also going to continue to tag the back posts so if there is something useful, it's easier for you to find.

i've realized that my life is filled with a lot of old time skills, such as gardening, canning, drying food... self sufficiency type things. i can sew, knit, crochet, raise animals, milk a cow or a goat (never did try a sheep), and i also realize that i get asked how to do these things, so i am going to keep telling folks here. i also am an artist, who paints, draws, sculpts, makes dolls, miniatures, toys, and a bunch of other stuff.....i also like silk ribbon embroidery, silk painting, beading, etc....... again things folks have asked me how to do so i'm going to add that too.
we don't have children so all of you folks now are my unofficial kids.......even if you're older then me- i'm going to pass it all on

doing things for yourself, mainly by hand can also give you a productive way to fill your non-work hours, or maybe even become work for you.
knowledge is power, is growth, is self preservation, is pride in who and what you are, and most of all lets a person feel that they can control at least part of their life.


i wish that for all of you.