Friday, February 24, 2017

Homestead Happenings - Jan 2017

January forced us to slow down as the weather turned bitterly cold and we had snow most of the month. My step-mom, Diana, made me an apron matching the girls'. I'm one happy apron-wearing mama!

My new deck served as a snow collection point and a good place to measure how much snow we received. 

Front deck just after one of our snow storms. Good thing we could still see the outline of the sled we use to hall wood in!

Lots of time for playing dress up during January. Rina is wearing Hailey's sun hat in this pic. 

Now she's in one of Hailey's winter hats. 
Play veil 

One of Hailey's medieval Narnian dresses. 

My poncho from Mexico that my Grandma and Grandpa Puffball brought me when I was a kid. Can't believe I still have it!

Dad and Diana got her this adorable dress. Can't wait to see her in it this spring. In the meantime she couldn't wait to wear it, and just put it over her winter clothes. 
Back to the homestead. Who says sheep are dumb? It was super cold out and Angel's hooves were cold, but she didn't want to go into the shed because the sun was finally shining. She decided to stand in her feeder to keep her hooves warm!

Speaking of Angel, do I detect a lamb bump?

Dixie, our "let me MAKE you love me" ewe, keeps knocking down the sheep shed walls. She's a stinker but we love her!

Another snowstorm means more snowball fights. These kids are serious!

We use these crocks for toy bins in the living room. Sometimes, Rina likes to take all her toys out and sit in them. She absolutely loves her cleaning set and helps us "clean" the house regularly.
Some friends gave Rina her first Radio Flyer tricycle. Her feet don't touch yet, but that's what having older siblings is for. It's cute to see them sitting behind her and pedaling her all over the house. 


Michael got bored this winter and challenged himself to making wooden mugs by hand. He did all the welding on this himself. He wants to make 12 of them. It's pretty impressive how this thing fits together so tightly! The guy never ceases to amaze me. 

Well that's about it for January. Just tried to stay warm with our too tiny stove. But we did it, despite subzero temps. Only lost one hen in Dec, but all the other animals did great through the cold snaps. Managed to keep our pipes from freezing and thaw out our pump before something broke. 

It was nice to slow down since so many events and activities were cancelled. I'm learning to look at it as a gift instead of an inconvenience. God kept Michael safe as he traveled over the mountain pass twice a day for work and provided a place for him to stay with friends when it was too dangerous to make the trek. So very thankful for His provision and protection. 

Blessings, Jackie



7 comments:

magnoliasntea said...

Your snowfall was beautiful, I measure how much we get on our deck, too. What a sweet family. Rina is such a little doll. I enjoyed all the photos. Thanks for sharing.

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

You and your girls are sweet in the matching aprons! I gave Megan an apron (someone made) for her birthday. I got a Pioneer Woman apron for my birthday from a friend..sweet! I like wearing aprons too! Micheal's wooden mugs are interesting! Good job! Glad you made it through your snow falls ok and stayed warm. I'm thankful for 2 oil filled radiant heaters we had during our furnace issue. Now in the garage but good to have if we ever need them again. Give off the heat well and no leaks. Everything is enclosed! Rina is getting so big and so fun to watch her grow up! Happy weekend and God bless you all!

Jill said...

Rina is just so adorable and precious, love her smile! Those aprons are awesome! So much snow, wow! Very smart sheep indeed! We were planning to get goats this year but put it on hold as I will be needing surgery and so will Jerry and we still need to build a barn/fence for them so it needs to wait. Hope you have a great week!

Blessings,
Jill

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

The aprons are so cute. I love wearing aprons. It's so weird to see snow still. We've had springlike weather for weeks now. I've been loving it. But it looks like your lamb knows how to survive it. 😉
Hugs
Kim

Unknown said...

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Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Yes, this has been shared without our permission. I've reported it and asked others to report it but nothing seems to have been done about it. Very frustrating! Not our ideals at all.

Homestead said...

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