Holidaze 2018

Our holidays were a bit weird this year. We spent most of December in limbo not sure if we were staying home, going to Michigan or going to Florida.   My grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday on Dec. 26th, so we were originally  planning to be there for her birthday party.  My parents usually stop by our house on their way to Florida and we celebrate xmas with them a little early.  However this year, my dad has undergone several surgeries for Parkinson's treatment and wasn't sure they'd be able to travel down to Florida. 

So we were suddenly looking at driving to Michigan to spend the holiday with my parents, then heading down to Florida to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.  The week before xmas, my dad was cleared for travel and they arrived on Dec. 23.

Stanley has been our Yule tree for the last few years. We always have a live potted tree, but the place where we'd been getting a live tree no longer offers them. So i'd purchased Stanley even though he's too small to really decorate. The kids love him though, and when i brought home an artificial tree i'd gotten from freecyle, i was not expecting the reactions i got. My daughter immediately yelled,  "we can't have a fake tree! We're betraying Stanley!"  When my son saw it, he said "this goes against our Viking heritage!!"  <- didn="" i="" p="" realize="" t="" vikings.="" we="" were="">

Once i began to decorate the tree, they eventually warmed up to the idea. i had to tell them it was just a decoration, we were not replacing Stanley.  Stanley is still our Yule tree. This is just an ornament holder.  It always quickly became out new cat tree as well. 

i had BIG plans for our holiday feast this year. i started off baking lots of treats and then planned a British themed menu with Treacle tarts,  Christmas dinner in a Yorkshire pudding,  pumpkin pasties and more. Then the day before my folks arrived i got sick. It was just a cold, but i felt miserable and didn't really want to be making food for people when i had snot dripping down my face, so my Very English Christmas never happened. Maybe next year.

We had a nice visit with the folks. My dad looked really good for the amount of surgeries he's had this past year. He'd had a DBS implant in the spring for Parkinson's, which almost immediately became infected. This led to several more surgeries removing different parts of the hardware, until he finally had to just have it all removed. Very disappointing, but glad it's over and he can move on.

Since they were able to come down and spend the holidays with us,  we didn't have to worry about that trip to MI.  It was a nice simple holiday with family.

My Grandmother's party was moved to the weekend after her birthday. So on Dec. 26th, my folks left for Florida and on the 27th we headed down that way too.   Although i wasn't thrilled be up and leaving right after xmas, i'm glad we went down and celebrated my grandmother's 90th birthday even though we turned around and drove right back a day later.  i'll post more about our super quick Florida trip on a different post.  Our ornament holder really looked lovely when we finally got it all decorated, even the kids agreed. ;) 

First Snow of the Season

The second week of December we had a major snow storm come through and dump about 20 inches of snow overnight.  This winter has been the snowiest we've seen in a while.  

Just a couple weeks earlier we were hit with an ice storm and lost power for almost 5 days.  Already this is more a winter than we usually see. 

Caring for critters in crappy weather is my least favorite part of homesteading. Although, i think i do prefer the snow to the usual ice and mud.  Our winters typically tend to be 99% mud.  There's not much worse than a muddy chicken coop.

Although our wood was covered in snow, we stayed nice and warm inside while husband kept the fire fed.  Thankfully, he'd brought plenty of wood inside before the storm started, so we had plenty of dry wood to last as long as needed.

Our bees are tucked into their hives for winter, and we are hoping they over winter well. This will be our first winter with bees, and so far it's been a pretty cold one.  We made sure they had plenty of honey/pollen frames to feed them over the winter, and we'll be checking on their food stores on the first warm days we get when temps are over 50 degrees.

 It's been very mild the past few years.  The snow helped me get into a holiday spirit a little quicker than normal.  On years where we get no snow in December, it just doesn't feel very festive. It was nice to hunker down and just enjoy the peacefulness the snow brings.  

Maginon Trail Camera Review- Sponsored

Pretty excited to finally get a #trailcam for our property! i'm always curious to know what is lurking around our property at night!  We've had bear, bobcats, fox and coyotes come through, but have never been able to catch them on camera.  Maginon sent me their WK 30-HD Trail camera to review. 

This Trail cam comes with 8 AA Batteries, Mounting belt, Wall mount, USB cable and Instruction manual. 

It didn't come with the SD card, so you have to provide your own. Once you insert the card, you can set the camera. The camera can be set to take pics or videos or a picture + a video. You can set how many pictures it takes, and how long the video plays.  It was easy to set up, although i still need to change the time/date.

 When i first got it, i set it up in an area where the deer typically come through, but after two days the only thing on the camera was me turning it on. Since i wanted to review it soon, and didn't want to wait days (or weeks) for a critter to show up i decided to set it up in the chicken coop just to see how it captured the images. 

i had fun checking through all the videos that it captured yesterday. Since it was in the chicken coop most of the videos are of the chickens of course, but i also caught my beagle walking past, my husband closing up the chicken coop and a RAT running around in the dark. eek! i'm looking forward to seeing this up in different areas on our land to see what is hanging around. 

According to the description it takes crystal clear day shots in color, black and white shots at night. i wouldn't call the images crystal clear, but  it was raining and hazy yesterday. The images are still good for a trail cam.  i'm going to play around with it some more, and i'm sure i'll be posting lots of videos of the different critters we capture on it.   i set it out again last night on the deer trail, and it took several videos. Although there were no critters in the video,  i could hear something walking around in the leaves so i may have to change the view of my camera.  Tonight i'll be placing it further out in the woods near our creak. i've very curios to see what comes to drink there. 

This is a nice camera, it's durable and waterproof.  It comes with a 3 year warranty.

You can find more information about the #maginon Trail Camera here-  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GDV55DZ  

i did receive the product at no cost and a small compensation for my review, but it did not influence my opinion of the product. My opinions are my own.
#sponsored #referral 

Winter came early- Ice Storm Nov. 2018

 Winter came early this year, with a pretty significant ice storm before Thanksgiving.   Almost the entire county lost power.  Our own power was out for over 5 days.  Kids were out of school and we all had a bit of cabin fever.

It was too cold  (and slippery) to hike the woods, but i did take a walk up the road just to snap a few pictures.  The main roads were mostly clear, except for tree branches that snapped and trees down because of the weight of the ice.  Our road wasn't too bad, but the Parkway was closed for quite a while so they could clear the roads and clean up the mess left from all the ice.

There was a heavy layer of ice on every.  Pretty, but destructive.

We were quite lucky that we didn't have any damage at our house. We have a gas powered generator so we were able to keep the refrigerator and deep freezer running and didn't lose all the food we grew, foraged and preserved in the freezer.  We were able to stay warm with the woodstove and heat water on it for tea.

November is really pretty early for a winter storm. Some years i've grown lettuce and leafy greens into December, but this year every was done by the second week in November. Even the plants in the greenhouse froze solid.

Although it's destructive, ice is always so beautiful. It seems to stop time and capture everything in a thick layer of glistening stillness.  i was not ready for winter to come so early, but definitely gave in and submitted once it arrived.  Some years i refuse to accept winter and fight it, but i've gotten much better at embracing it, slowing down and welcoming the quietness of the season.

I am grateful for the silence of winter mornings, for the beauty and wonder of the glint of sunlight in frost melting to dew, for the early-riser's peaceful solitude that sets a mood of thankfulness, hope, and calm for the dawning day. ~Terri Guillemets

Indian Valley Fall Festival 2018- CANCELED DUE TO WINTER STORM

 The Indian Valley Fall Festival is this Friday from 4:30- 8pm.  There will be bounce houses and games for the kids. The event is free to attend, but wristbands need to be purchased for the bounce house and games. 

i'll be set up to vend again this year.  Other vendors typically include 31 bags, scentsy, Lularoe and many artists and handcrafters.

i'll be set up again this year as a vendor selling my handmade jewelry, lamp work glass and more!

These are a few examples of items i'll for sale this year.  My glass pendant make great holiday gifts!  Each one is unique. They range in price from $10-$15 and come with a cord and a small organza gift bag..perfect for gifting! 

My beaded jewelry stock is down a bit from the market season, but i will have several pieces available. i'm looking forward to making more this winter! 

i'll have lots of crocheted bags, hats and even a couple amigurumi dolls. 

IVES is offering a lot more with their wristbands this year! Bouncy houses, face painting, hair paint, photo booth, games, and balloon animals. We will have an early bird special for wristbands. They will start at $10!! They will be $15 at the door. They will have lots of local vendors! A great time to get some Christmas Shopping done while the kids play! Cake walk, 50/50, and food!! A great time to for families and the whole community!!