Where is Hienni?

Any of you guys heard from her lately? I miss her.

I'll let her know you asked about her.

Thanks. I hope she is doing well. I really miss her.

I sent her an email. She's been pretty busy...lots going on in her life.

Have you seen Twiggybuds post anywhere in the past month or so? I sent her a d-mail several weeks ago and an email a couple of weeks ago. But haven't heard back. I mailed off a note today.

Hello to Hineni here too...

I haven't seen Twiggybuds post all summer long. She had health issues and I hope all is well. I hope we didn't lose her too when Daves disintegrated...

Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her posting. I hope she is OK. I don't recall seeing her on Cubits.

Hineni! LOL (it means here I am in Hebrew)

Hi ya'll,

Thanks for asking about me. Life has become so cotton pickin' busy that I rarely visit any forums anymore, even ones I paid for :/

My daughter, her fiance and my grandson returned to the nest in November, so life got even more hectic at that point :) Now that winter is here and there's no grass to mow, and there is a strong young man here to attend to some of the things needing done that I had no time to do until winter, maybe I can get over here more.

I also joined an online dating site, but that's not going so well. Not too many men around my area, nor too many interested in this lifestyle either. But I have made one or two good online friends and we correspond fairly regularly.

I also had some depression related to my husband's death, but I didn't realize that I had it until it was ending. Thanks to MsRobin and my good friend T up in Kansas, I got over that hump and I am starting to feel like myself again (i.e. re-entering the communication world...lol)

So I'm well, busy, and still employed. I hope all of ya'll are doing well also.

Bless you! I am glad to hear from you and know that things are looking up. Having your Grandson with you will be hectic but grand fun.

I hope you all have a nice Holiday season and are able to pop in more often. Merry Christmas!

It is so very good to hear from you. I have thought of you so often, I am glad you are doing well and getting back to "normal" though, if you are anything like me, normal is a half bubble off plumb. LOL How exciting for you to have your family with you. Especially a grandson. I miss my DGS so very much. Many times I shed tears over it. Today has been very hard for us. We are alone here with no family so it is not much of a holiday. I have been quite depressed over it but I'm sure I will get over it.

It's good that you have your DD's BF to help around the place. He can help you get lots done toward the homestead. I will be looking forward to hearing about the new projects taking place when the weather clears for Spring.

A dating site, huh? Is it Eharmony? Looks like they have some good success from their commercials. A man would be lucky to have such a nice, fun loving, hardworking lady as yourself. Just make sure he is into gardening and such. I'd hate for you to have to prune him once you got him trained. LOL

How has your winter been so far?

Thanks Cajun and Pod! Yes, I call it my 'new' normal since learning to live as a singleton. And always at a little tilt from normal ;)

My grandson is a delight and he loves his Bubbe and he and I have quite a few mornings together. He wakes up very happy and hungry and jabbers all of the time. He now says 'dawg' with a Tennessee accent....teehee! I do not, however, spoil him. He needed good discipline when he arrived and had an anger issue, so we're all working on that together. He runs incessantly...how I wish I had that energy. But I also don't get to sleep 10-12 hours a night and take long naps either...haha!

Yep, eH was my original foray into online dating. Not worth it so far for me, but I've learned a lot. Mainly that I am old fashioned, and mayhaps will live out my days alone in a purple hat, with chihuahuas wearing knitted purple sweaters to match and muttering about mice whilst puttering in the garden 0_0 (j/k, I don't really like chihuahuas nor do I knit....lol) But I have made some great male friends, and some female ones as well, from the Advice boards. I just didn't realize I was so out of touch with dating protocol, or what goes as such today. I am optimistic though, that someone special will come along at the right time. In the interim, I will just continue to be the best me that I can be, and remain happy and content :)

Winter here has been extremely cold; but I wasn't here until after Jan 1 last year, so I don't know if it's abnormal or not. I am so thankful that my daughter's fiancee is here and cutting down dead wood from the property. I am burning much more wood trying to keep the house warm enough for a toddler on the go than I would if here alone. Plus, the beautiful rick of wood that I bought is still too green to burn; I'm going to have to learn to gauge wood age better. It will be fab for next year, and it does well if brought inside to dry, but that's a lot of wood to haul into the house...I already loaded, unloaded and stacked it twice! A new farm exercise video is due....LOL!

Anyway, my break is over, so back to the grindstone....uhhhh, my great job!

:)

Happy New Year, Sunny. I know you are here (and there). :) Sounds like you need a good wood shed to dry your wood over the season. We are cutting now for next year and burning last year's. Once we empty one rick we start filling it and then fill in on the second and third. Thankfully we can't cut and burn downed trees as fast as they fall. The ones not good for the fireplace or stove go to the fire pit for Spring and Fall outdoor fires.

On the bright side, you have your wood for next year and you are getting the downed wood taken care of. That's a good thing.

I hear you and Robin had a good visit. Gonna have to pop over here sometime this year. I'd love to see you guys.

Do you have any planting beds or garden rows in place yet?

Well Cajun, I do now! I switched to container gardening for this year, and changing over some 'pretty' beds to veggies right up here by the house as I try to tackle what will go on out in the 'back garden' area. I just got back in from covering some of the newer stuff since we're dropping back below freezing tonight and tomorrow night, or so the forecast says...it's still in the upper forties here so I'm not sure. I'm also building a chicken tractor while I have free time - I think my plan will be to house the chickens in the garden area all of this year and cover the chickenized portions with black plastic once they are done pecking and pooping, so that next spring I'll have compost manured, seedless and grassless beds on which to put either raised beds or cattle troughs or gasp! maybe even just plant in the dang ground in that area. I've found a source for the chickens and also some goats - so my wheels are a spinnin' right now.

Laurel: I still have more than a half rick of wood left, and a neighbor has given me a fallen oak; just have to saw it up and haul it home. I have a covered area that my wood stays in, but the roof is a bit leaky at times. I will be ready in advance for next year - a repairman owns several hundred acres here and is cutting and splitting now and will sell me a rick for next year here in the Spring. So I should be good to go next year.

In the meantime, I was laid off at work (again) so I'm scurrying about getting all the things done that I can while not working so if/when I find another job (I have a good offer for sometime in April) I will be ready to get back to work and not be fretting about garden prep while learning a new job. One thing I have discovered is that I really, really like not working and being able to spend time on the property. Alas, unless I win the lottery or find a rich feller, I guess I'll have to keep on working :)

Hope all of ya'll stayed warm and survived the frigid, snowy weather and are dreaming of true Spring (but please, without ticks...haha) as I am :)

~H

So jealous about the prospective chicken tractor and chickens. I'll not be able to have those until we are settled in one place. Oh, the downside of being an itinerant homesteader.

Great news on the oak for future heating but, lest we forget, we have to split after we haul and pray it's not one of those oaks that just will not give way. Seems I've split much wood that should qualify as "petrified" and have the sorry (and sore) shoulders to prove it.

That is terrible news about your job. Just when you made it to a day job after being a mole person for way too long. I say the lottery might provide more options than a rich feller unless he is rich and wanting to feller your firewood. Alas, a life of leisure on the ole homestead is tough and somebody's got to do it. Unfortunately it is not us.
L

I can't split wood to save my life....I don't have whatever the special way is of holding my mouth or something down yet. Mainly I end up nearly shaking loose the joints in my elbows and then trying to get the axe out of the wood. I did re-claim the maul and wedge from the barn though recently and am thinking maybe that would be easier on me, but most of the wood I've got cut already and out in the neighbor's pasture is round wood that will fit into the wood furnace easily anyway. When boy wonder was visiting, I had him split the petrified wood that I inherited :)

Yep, finally got to day shift again and then poof! lost my incredible value I suppose. They've laid off several more teams since my cut came. Glad to hear though that some single mom's got to keep their jobs - at least it's just me and the pups here.

I guess I'd have to actually play the lottery to win (kind of like I'd have to actually date to meet someone...LOL!) so prolly both are out and I'll just have to learn to balance work for pay and work for pleasure better. And leisure I guess is that time I get when I'm sleeping :D


~H

I don't know how one splits wood with an axe. A wedge and maul is the way to go for splitting serious wood. Make sure your wedge is not mushroomed for safety. An axe is good for making slivers for a wood cook stove or splitting fat wood. The idea is you heft the maul and let gravity bring it down to do the splitting. You don't need to really drive it so there isn't much impact on the joints. The part that takes skill is hitting the wood on center and not the tractor parked nearby or your favorite chicken out for a stroll (unless your wanting chicken for dinner).

Not a risk taker much, eh? The lottery is probably a safer bet these days than dating. First question for prospective date, "How many cords a season can you split and stack?"

Maypop, don't give her any ideas! LOL!

Risk taker? Pshaw, I moved to the boonies with no knowledge about anything and own power tools with sharp blades and bits. Nahh, not much of a risk taker here....(smirk)

p.s. I do wear safety glasses and use spell-check on my cellphone when I text though :D

~yawns and toddles off to bed

That's a good idea about letting the chickens clear your garden. Goats will do a great job of it too.

So do pigs!

I always laugh when I see this thread pop up in my thread watcher...kind of like where's Waldo. Because we all know how many times Miss Sunshine has moved in the past few years to find the perfect homestead. And isn't it wonderful to know you've been missed? :)

I hate moving!

Yes MsRobin, it is nice to be missed :)

I'll pass on the pigs (I think that is a game too, Pass the Pigs...lol) Still have chickens and goats on the mental burner though.

As for moving, I think I'll be here a while. Besides, I still have boxes I've not even unpacked, so no new plans for moving can be made while there are still boxes from the last move, I think that's a rule somewhere. Of course, I've ignored that rule the last three moves I've made - HA! Since I purchased this place, hopefully I'll be able to stay :)

Now to get my butt moving...that's some moving I need to do!

~H

LOL

And it will all be new treasures you find when you unpack! How fun. Do you ever say... I have one of 'those' somewhere.

I still have boxes that we packed up when we left the bayou over 8 years ago.

Yep...I say, "I know I have one of those......" and then go down to the basement. My daughter and I went through all of the boxes in the basement looking for an extra shower curtain that I *know* I had, but found everything else BUT that. I did find enough piddling extras to get her a serviceable kitchen started at her new place. Pots, pans, knives, can opener, wooden spoons, etc. I've tried to educate her on how to find good used stuff cheap at Salvation Army and Goodwill, which is where most of anything I have now came from, except stuff from my purchases during my corporate days (and I still bought on the cheap then...lol). Marshall's and Ross are good places to find quality cookware for cheap, and a lot of cool spices that I really use a lot of.

One of my friends came to visit last October, and she used to be a professional organizer, so she helped me out here immensely. However, now I cannot find my stick blender anywhere - I suspect it might be with the shower curtain. LOL!

@Cajun - I feel better now, my oldest unpacked box is only from 2008, so I'm only 3 years in the weeds on those ;)

The last 2 moves we have made were both downsizing so we cannot unpack things.