This and That....again....

I really wished I could of gotten a photo of Mia and Dyfra trying to touch noses through the glass but I ended up with the 2nd best photo. Dyfra walked up the steps to see Mia,, who was at the time standing on her back legs with her front paws and nose pressed to the window, so she could see what that giant white creature was.
Of course you can see how thrilled DS was about Dyfra blocking the door. LOL
When I came back from my ride yesterday, this is where I found Mia waiting. She knows where I put the halters and I guess she figured that was the best place to lay down, to make sure I paid attention to her when I got back in. Smart kitten!

Today... We are all working in the bigger woods on the property.

I worked on getting one of the smaller paths cleared so I can check the fence line, when riding Dyfra. However 90% of my riding paths are so blocked with trees...might take all winter to get them cleared again. At least at the rate and speed I can work.

DH & DS are doing all the big work, clearing more of that large tree along with a couple of smaller ones. Beautiful sunny day today, to do such chores. Can you believe it is 64* at noon!! And its only early Feb!

Sign Language ~

http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/phrases.cgi

I found this site because I basically can't hear any thing out of my right side. And I don't hear normally with my good side in crowds or any kind of back ground noise. Thought it would be a good idea to learn some sign langauge but I have a hard time learning from drawing of hands in a book. This site is 100% better than that....easy to boot!
Easy signs for "I have a question", "Thank you", "excuse or pardon me".... am learning some things out of their General
section.
So if you know of anyone hearing impaired or having a hard time hearing in crowds...this is something wonderful to learn.

Now I know why handmade rolls and buns are treats~

Few days ago I decided to try my hand at making hamburger buns. Started at 9am in the morning and was finally finished and the hamburger buns out of the oven by 5:30 pm! Can now see why folks only made them on special occasions. But.. my OH my ,,, this recipe has such a good flavor and the added plus...no salt!

Took a photo of one of the hamburger buns, however, I decided to use one for a Tuna salad sandwich. Yum!!!

The Cats~

All the Cats are doing well. In the above photo, can see Mia and Sadie playing.
*
Nari ended up with a one way ticket to the large shed, as her Territorial aggression and pray drive got the best of her one to many times. IE drawing blood in the other cats. We tried all the tried and true methods to get her to tone it down,,just did not work. Vet said, some cats just get like that and they are better off without other cats around. Now she is an outside only cat and loving it!
She has the largest airline approved animal carrier in the large shed, which has her post, bed, outdoor heating pad, food, water, litterbox and she is shut in at night so nothing can harm her. But during the day,, she loves to hunt mice and birds. The change in her is wonderful.. she is now happy, friendly and just over all doing better being able to hunt any time she wants. Another plus is she can't harm the other indoor cats any more.

A photo capture of Mia I took earlier today. She has some strange eyes.

Mia's 2nd favorite thing to do, take naps on me. VBG

More snow and seed packages ~

We wake up this morning to an inch of snow on the ground but this time around it is a warm snow. And only an inch... I can deal with that.

And of course my Veggie seed packages came in, for this up and coming growing season. Is hard to wait for spring to arrive!! Feel like a child at Christmas time!

Trying some new varieties of Veggies this time around.

I do however, need to find some place to buy well made but cheap, long 2 tube grow light fixtures. Some of these seeds need to be started early indoors and with our lack of sun, they will need the grow lights.

So if anyone knows of such lights for sale, please let me know.

This Weekend ~

After that lovely... almost month long winter storm with all that snow damage done to the trees, it is time to clean up the aftermath. DH with our small chain saw.

This is only one of the many trees down around the farm. This whole weekend was spent trying to get as much of this tree cut up and cleared. It will take us at least a couple of weekends to get this one dealt with. Numerous others still clean up.

DS splitting the rounds into usable firewood sized pieces. Is the only tree on the place like it, would say it is a medium hard wood. Very, very nice wood with a straight grain. Normally I know my tree species, almost say it is a Willow cultivar...but I am going to have to look this one up.

The mess of downed limbs.

Trunk area near the root ball. Multi trunk and it is hard to show just how large it is.
Keep hinting to DH that some of this wood is just too nice to make only fire wood out of it. VBG

At least it was a beautiful day out today. Bright skys and it made it to 50*!

Good Books~

The whole family loves reading, so I thought I would put a short entry to books I would recommend for readers.
I tend to save my favorite books to read again.

Anne McCaffery writes a good books and her "Freedom" series and "Pern" series are excellent reads. The words flow easily and her writing is clear and you can just about see her worlds in your head.
I really enjoy the books Anne McCaffery has written on her own. The books she has a co-author with, I have not liked nearly as much.

If you like the "RingWorld" books, then you should take a look at Helix. Very clear and easy to understand.

" Judas Unchained" Is the sequel of Pandora's Star and like PS, Judas unchained is a 1,000+ page book. It is a little more intense read but well written. Honestly think this book is better than the first. However,,, near the end it seems like the Author rushed. Would of rather seen him add another 500 pages, than ending that is in the book. But I still recommend giving this book an look at too.

I am in the process of reading a "Dick Frances" Novel and will do a review as soon as I am done.

Normally I do not like murder mysteries but he writes an outstanding book.