Happy Holidays to one and All !

Birch Trees~

New Birch trees... They were on sale and I missed having Northern trees.
This species of Birch was created to

handle the heat we have here.

 They are leaning because Stjarna just had to go itch herself on them. (rolling eyes)

Will look very pretty in spring.

Loaf Bread for the Holidays~

Normally I just give homemade

 White bread to the good neighbors for the Holidays..

this year I decided to do loaf breads.

This one is the Banana, with fresh Raspberry and Chocolate chip Loaf Bread.
Before and after photos.

The golden color you see, is from the rich eggs we have from our 

free range chickens.

The last set of loaf breads, is the Pumpkin spice Chocolate chip loaves.

Mia and the giant Lad ~

Poor Mia is being over shadowed by the new Kitten. 

Also hard to get Mia's beautiful green eyes to show up... even with no flash. 

But you can see them, in this photo.

She is helping her person, do college work.

New bird Feeder and Tree ~

Bought a new Bird feeder... one of the mirror ones, so the cats can enjoy eating in their dreams

....ah... watching the birds too.

For our Anniversary, we bought a new Japanese Maple.. was on sale at 75% off!

It will not get big and will offer the wild birds some place to rest, after eating.

Roses and House plants~

My new Miniature Rose, is called, Sweet Fairy and smells really good.
This one will just be a house plant. In the future will put it in my Art room.

Over wintering DHs Fuchsia, and the 3 young Roses on their own root stock.
When the Roses are big enough they will go out in the garden.

Was finally able to buy the much needed grow light,  they should do much better now.

The Herd

Most of the herd grazing up front...
Except Dyfra and the goats.

Love watching them graze.

The Forbidden City ~ Anniversary day out~

We decided to have a day out for our Anniversary a day early.

After a not so great start to the day yesterday... due to the Marathon, we sort of gave up trying to get to the 
Richmond Fine Art Museum... 
we stopped at the Science center... not very well done at all.

DH was getting grumpy but I wanted to try to get around the marathon to still get to the Art museum... hours and hours later, we finally did it.

OH MY Goosh.... what a pleasant surprise... the Richmond Fine Art museum is incredibly well done. Really, really enjoyed what I was able to see... 
Walkie bits kind'a gave out on me... but we will be going back.

For our 28th Anniversary today...

So yesterday we decided to celebrate and see some of the wonders of the Forbidden city exhibit. Just stunning.

And to Top that off... their restaurant... cooked food for me with no salt in it... and it was good!
This is the first Restaurant that would change their menu for me, since moving to VA.
They had to custom make the food, very happy they were willing to do that.

So now I have a place I can go out to dinner at. Whoot!

http://vmfa.museum/exhibitions/forbidden-city/

No photos but you can see about the Forbidden City with the link above.

Nice night out ~ Horse show~

Had a nice Date night out with DH.

I really need a lens that is f2.8... what I have is an f5.6 but with that, and the way the lighting was.... Not too bad given the way things were.

Last night out.. Gala of the Royal Horses... here are just some of the photos I took. Still going through them.

The lightening was dark and purple... Could take the time to clean that up later.

Tangerine Tree~

Tangerine tree is doing well.  Think the extra light is doing wonders.

Even had one tangerine ripening.
Will have to look into finding another one on sale.

Staining the Run in Shed~

Run in shed... 12' by 32' long...  

Where the black line is.. is as far as I could get without a ladder.
DH will have to finish up the taller areas of the shed.

The areas that were not done... is what I finished up this morning..

Will have to up date the photos. 

Looks a lot better.

The part farthest away has been stained....

The part close to you... is what I finished up this morning.

Finished this side this morning. 

Will post an updated photo soon.

Will be a few days before I will be up to starting on the Hay shed. Or should say.. finishing up the hay shed.

Fall Photos~

What Fall colors we have here.  This is the main horse pasture.

Steam rising over the trees, near the sheep pasture, the other morning.

Was quite cool looking in person.

Newest Shed ~

Bought this used shed back on the 18th of Oct... and we finally 

was able to have it delivered yesterday.

Is a small Board and Batten Amish shed.. just 10 by 12'.

Will be for the sheep and the geese once they get here. DH is leveling it this morning.
Removing the patch work floor.
Needs some patching up, but should have it ready to go for the animals some time this week.
Hopefully I will be able to get it stained and tied down,

 before the weather gets too cold.

Rose the Kitten has her own Blog ~

At many friends requests, Rose now has her own BLOG and FaceBook page.

Come see her tiny adventures! LOL

More photos of Rose ~

She is such a cute kitten.

Raarrawaa... I am a feisty kitten... LOL

She is settling in well. Have a large play pen for her to play in, when Mia is out and about. We are slowly getting Mia used to her new buddy.

A new kitten ~~

Well, I wasn't planning on getting a kitten, and we did not get the kitten I originally was going to see....

There are sooo many kittens that need homes, is scary.  She was one of 6, if I remember correctly.

She snuggled right into DS, and me... right now she is on DH's chest, they are both sound asleep.

I want to call her Rose... DS wants to call her Ashley.....   LOL
Will figure it out sooner or later.

She is only 1 month old, so I bought her special kitten food and got some kitten milk for her.

The Moon and the night sky...

Tried to get photos of the Moon early this morning... I forgot to set the camera up... or get the tri pod out.  

Canon did this, on just a normal setting....   then the clouds rolled in and there was no way to see the full eclipse. 

The night stars were very pretty. 

 On the photo that looks black.. there is a bright star that was off in the North East... and very faint tiny colored stars can be seen if you look closely.  

So I "think", if I get this camera set up right.... I could do some sky photos.

Re painting the Hen House~

Decided a long time ago, I wanted a yellow Hen house with white trim.
Took a few years, but it is finally happening.
Above you see the first coat of Primer going on.
Took two coats of Primer to make the red go away.

DH still working on the shed at 5 pm.  Two very full days of working on the Hen House to get to this point.
There will be some more trim and touch up I will need to do later.
Still need to put the shutters up and I think next spring... I will put little flower boxes under the windows.

Still need to stain both the Hay shed and Run in shed.  But that will have to be for another weekend.

The yellow color is a bit more bright and cheerful in the sunshine.  Is the same color as the front door and shutters on the House.

Working on the Front door~

Hail damage to the side panels.

 So DH sanded down the side panels and front door.

I decided to go with a more cheerful color that would handle the heat we have in this State.

Lots of prep work. Also put on two coats of white primer.

First coat of color.

I did the last coat of color.  

Still need to take a fine brush to the areas around the glass panels...but it is pretty much done.

One set of shutters up, 3 layers of primer and 2 coats of Color.Just have 3 more sets of shutters to do.
But it will give you an idea what the house will look like.


Really want to change all the outside lights,,, but that will happen in time.